Source: CRN Asia
“The strongest growth in APAC will come from partners who stay engaged across the lifecycle, from design to deployment to expansion and renewal,” says Maureen Perrelli, Chief Global Channel Officer at Quest.
Quest recently updated its partner program as the software vendor looks to more beyond transactional partnerships. The data management, cybersecurity, and platform modernization company spent the last year dismantling its existing partner program and rebuilding it to focus more on the customer lifecycle.
According to Maureen Perrelli, Chief Global Channel Officer at Quest, enterprise customers have changed what they expect from their technology partners. With customers need a partner who understands their business, it was imperative for Quest to ensure its partner program can enable partners to guide customers through adoption, growth and also be there at renewal.
“They (customers) want a partner that is invested in outcomes, not just transactions. The partners generating the most durable value are the ones who remain deeply engaged across the entire customer lifecycle, not just at the point of sale,” said Perrelli in a blog post announcing the new partner program.
In an email interview with CRN Asia, Perrelli explains more about the company’s presence in the APAC region as well as the changes its bringing to partners as it looks to make the most out of the opportunity available here.
Can you tell us a bit more about Quest’s presence in the APAC region, especially in Southeast Asia?
Southeast Asia sits at the intersection of three major shifts: cloud transformation, cybersecurity modernisation, and AI ambition. All three depend on trusted data, secure identities and resilient infrastructure – which is exactly where Quest Software operates.
This is a deeply partner-led region for us. We work closely with resellers, distribution, MSPs, SIs, and technology partners who understand local markets and regulatory nuance. That proximity to customers is critical as organisations modernise complex hybrid environments and prepare for AI at scale.
Quest Software supports more than 45,000 customers globally, including over 90% of the Fortune 500, and many of those relationships extend across APAC. What’s different here is the pace and the opportunity for partners who go deep, not broad. By that I mean that they are focusing on fewer customers, building vertical expertise, and investing in services that extend well past the initial sale.
How important is the region for Quest and what opportunities are you seeing here?
APAC is one of our highest priority growth regions because so many organisations are in the middle of significant technology transition.
The first opportunity is AI readiness. While enthusiasm for AI is high, data maturity often lags, preventing organisations from reaching the potential that AI offers. Organisations are discovering that foundational data governance, quality, and identity controls are the real constraints on AI success. In recent research, organisations told us that half of their data team capacity is consumed by one-off, non-reusable data work and they mostly have unstructured data programmes. That gap between ambition and foundation is real. The good news is that it’s solvable.
The second opportunity is platform modernisation. Customers are running complex hybrid environments and are looking for practical ways to modernise without introducing unnecessary risk or disruption.
The third is cybersecurity and identity resilience. As threat environments intensify and regulations evolve, identity security and recovery have become board level concerns.
What makes APAC unique is the speed at which these priorities are converging, creating strong demand for partners who can guide outcomes, not just implement technology.
How important is Quest’s partner ecosystem to its growth and expansion plans in the region?
Partners are central to our success. There’s no question about it.
They are closest to the customer, closest to the problem and increasingly responsible for turning platforms into outcomes. As environments become more complex, customers need expertise across adoption, optimisation and value realisation.
The strongest growth in APAC will come from partners who stay engaged across the lifecycle, from design to deployment to expansion and renewal. That’s where trust is built and where durable growth thrives.
Quest is a key strategic partner to Microsoft, and we have spent more than 30 years innovating on the Microsoft platform. From Active Directory to Entra ID and Microsoft 365, that deep heritage helps partners extend, secure, and modernise the Microsoft environments their customers rely on every day.
What are the changes Quest is making to its partner programme and why does it feel it’s important to have these changes?
The transactional era of the channel is shifting to focus on the success of customers. And our new partner programme, Quest Edge, reflects that reality.
Traditional tier-based programmes rewarded volume at the point of sale. But the partners creating the most customer value today are contributing far beyond that, building solutions, delivering services, and driving long-term adoption. They are involved in the full customer journey, and the previous partner programme that got us to where we are today, won’t take us into the future.
Quest Edge is a lifecycle-based model that recognises how value is created, across Build, Sell, and Service motions. Partners who stay involved, who deepen expertise, and who deliver outcomes are no longer treated as exceptions. They are the model. We’ve re-built this programme to support them throughout.
How are partners reacting to these changes? Will Quest be looking to grow its partner ecosystem in the region?
The response has been strongly positive, particularly from service-led partners, MSPs, and systems integrators. Many have told us this programme truly reflects the value they deliver after the sale — adoption, optimisation, and ongoing customer success.
We’re also seeing increased interest from partners looking to build focused practices around data governance, cybersecurity, and identity resilience, as well as AI readiness.
We do intend to grow the ecosystem in APAC, but not by chasing scale for its own sake. Our priority is quality. We’re looking for partners who want to build differentiated capabilities, deepen expertise, and deliver measurable customer outcomes.
Where do you see partners challenged the most and how is Quest enabling them?
The biggest challenge is complexity at speed. Things are moving faster than they ever have before. Customers are asking partners to guide AI initiatives, secure identities, modernise platforms, and meet governance requirements. Often simultaneously. That demands new skills, new services and new business models.
The second challenge is moving beyond transactions. Customers increasingly expect partners to demonstrate business outcomes, not only technical delivery.
Quest Edge is designed to support that shift. We’re investing in enablement, technical training, lifecycle-based incentives, co-selling, and go-to-market support that helps partners build recurring, services-led practices.
The fastest-growing partners aren’t trying to do everything. They’re going deep, building vertical expertise, developing proprietary IP, and staying engaged long after implementation. That’s the model we want to accelerate.
Lastly, what are you hoping to get more from partners in this region?
Our aim with all of our partners is to create and establish deeper lifecycle engagement.
We’re looking for partners who move beyond helping customers buy technology and instead help them achieve meaningful outcomes, whether that’s through industry-specific solutions, managed services, adoption programmes, or stronger data and security foundations for AI.
The partners who will succeed are the ones who become trusted advisors. They understand the customer’s business, stay involved beyond deployment and continuously help unlock new value.
In many ways, that’s the difference between running a sprint and running a marathon. (Something I’m training to do at the moment!) Too many partner programmes are designed to reward the sprint. Customer success is a marathon. The partners creating the most value are the ones that stay in the race, through adoption, optimisation, expansion, and renewal.
That’s exactly what Quest Edge is built to support. Growth comes from long-term relationships, with partners who are committed to building them.
