Deployments to Dollars: Turning Services into Recurring Revenue
In today’s high-stakes cybersecurity climate, selling a solution isn’t enough. Akamai partners who lead with services win trust — and earn long-term customer loyalty. In this four-part series From Products to Partners: The Shift to Service-Led Security, you’ll learn how to expand your revenue streams and deepen customer relationships with training certifications, Day-2 Operations Services, and Tier 1 and Tier 2 support. You’ll also get practical strategies shared by our Akamai Channel Partners.
In part one, we’ll explore turning deployments into recurring revenue. Stay tuned for the other three blog posts in the series, including:
- Part two: API Security Partner Tools and Training for Day-2 Operations
- Part three: What’s New in Tier 1 & Tier 2 Partner Support (and How to Get Certified)
- Part four: Use What Works: Real Strategies from Our High-Performing Partners
As Tom Leighton, Akamai’s Co-Founder and CEO, said to CRN, “Our focus on enabling partners with increased training and resources ensures they are equipped to deliver more managed services, support, and innovative solutions. Together, we'll drive new business opportunities and create more revenue-generating possibilities for their organizations.”
95% of Akamai Guardicore Segmentation sales are closed by our partners
Our most successful partners don’t stop at the sale. They’re delivering post-sale service packages that create recurring revenue streams — and the results speak for themselves (Figure 1).
Fig. 1: The Akamai partner sales and services flywheel
In a traditional partner sales motion, the revenue story ends with a sale. Akamai’s top-performing partners are flipping that script by training and certifying their teams and expanding their offerings to strategic, ongoing services that customers rely on every day (Video).
Watch how we equip your engineers with the training, tools, and hands-on experience needed to deliver a full spectrum of Professional Services to your customers
Certified partners earn more — much more
As a Guardicore-certified Services Partner (GcSP), you can now extend your customer offerings to include valuable Day 2 segmentation, threat management, and audit and compliance services. Starting in Q3 2025, you’ll also be able to deliver 24/7 Tier 1 and Tier 2 support, fully backed by our Akamai experts.
This means you’ll not only build your reputation as your customer’s trusted advisor, but you’ll also earn more with new, recurring revenue streams (Figure 2).
Fig. 2: Akamai partner strategy: One-time vs. recurring engagements
Shift from vendor to strategic partner
Customers today aren’t just looking for technology — they want outcomes. By embedding your Day-2 Operations Services and support into their ongoing operations, you shift from being a one-time vendor to their strategic partner. The bottom line? Greater customer loyalty, lower churn, and year-over-year partner revenue streams you can count on.
“The enhancements Akamai has made to its Security Certified Service Provider programs enable us to better deliver services directly to our customers,” said Florent Houy, Head of Cloud Innovation at Orange Cyberdefense in France,” significantly increasing our ability to meet their unique needs and ensure they receive the best possible protection and support.”
Houy continues, “These partner program updates strengthen our collective capability and Orange Cyberdefense's microsegmentation service offering to secure digital assets, ensure flexibility, meet our customers’ expectations, and help our clients stay focused on what matters most: their business.”
Ready to start?
Ready to start growing your partner service offerings? Or maybe you’d just like to share your own partner story. Let’s talk! Book a slot on my RSA 2025 calendar, or email me at amittler@akamai.com.
In the meantime, you can:
Explore our partner programs, training and certifications (free for partners!), epubs, and playbooks
Connect with our Partner Success Team to map your next 12 months of growth
Look for part two of this series, API Security Partner Tools and Training for Day-2 Operations, coming soon.
