I'm an independent IT freelancer preparing to provide a customer with a Sophos XGS 108 firewall and five years of Standard Protection. The Sophos partner I'm buying through wants my customer's name and other details to prepare a personalized quote, and the firewall would need to be registered to the customer. I'm concerned that sharing this information could allow Sophos or the distributor to contact the customer directly and handle the renewal after five years without involving my company. Is this standard practice, and how can I make sure my company remains the associated reseller for renewals and technical support?
3 Answers
You may also be able to enroll your own business in Sophos’s partner program. Partner registration is intended to let companies quote and sell products to their customers while retaining their margin and channel relationship. Ask the distributor whether they can process the deal under your company and list the end customer separately. The important part is agreeing in advance who owns the customer relationship and who receives renewal opportunities.
This is generally how vendor licensing works. Sophos and its partners need the customer’s information for quoting, registration, and support, but the associated reseller usually isn’t changed unless the customer asks for a different one. Make sure the quote and registration clearly identify your company as the reseller, and confirm the renewal process with the partner in writing.
The customer should normally be the registered owner of the firewall and licenses. That gives them access to account recovery, licensing, and vendor support. As the IT provider, you can still manage the system, but taking ownership yourself could leave you carrying unnecessary legal and operational responsibility.
That makes sense. I’m mainly trying to ensure that my company remains connected as the reseller and support provider after the initial sale.
I’m not currently a registered Sophos partner. I plan to purchase through an existing partner and resell the firewall. I’ll ask them how my company can be recorded as the associated dealer for renewals and technical support.