Partner Spotlight: Gigamon and Carahsoft Deliver Solutions that Maximize Visibility and Security

Carahsoft, founded in 2004, is a privately held business located in Reston, VA, that sells IT hardware, software, and consulting services to federal, state, and local governments, as well as educational institutions, healthcare, and commercial enterprises.

We spoke with Director of Sales Chris Clarke to find out more about how Carahsoft works with Gigamon to deliver vital, game-changing IT products, services, and solutions.

Gigamon: Who is Carahsoft and what is the company’s history? 

Chris: Carahsoft Technology is also known as the Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®. We connect public sector organizations across federal, state, and local governments, as well as education and healthcare markets with technology solutions designed to modernize agency operations, advance the delivery of citizen services, leverage emerging technologies, strengthen cybersecurity, and more.

The company was founded in 2004 by Craig P. Abod, and he has grown Carahsoft to more than $13 billion in bookings in 2022. As a top-ranked GSA schedule and SEWP contract holder, the company now employs more than 2,700 professionals dedicated to the company’s mission.  

Gigamon: Describe your company culture.

Chris: Carahsoft’s success is based on continually finding new ways to deliver value every day to our customers — from our technology solutions providers to our resellers and integrator partners, and most importantly, to the government agencies and organizations whose missions we are honored to support.

Gigamon: When and how did you become a Gigamon Partner? 

Chris: We partnered with Gigamon as their first-ever distributor in the U.S. federal space in 2013. Our relationship has expanded to support the Gigamon channel in federal, state, local, higher-ed, and K-12 markets. We also support Gigamon efforts in the commercial and healthcare sectors, and in Canada.

Gigamon: If you had to describe Gigamon with just one word, what would it be?

Chris: Enhance. Gigamon helps enhance their alliance partners’ products extremely well, allowing customers to maximize the efficacy of their investments. As a distributor that represents many different best-of-breed vendors, it’s great to partner with Gigamon. They offer flexibility when it comes to running integration campaigns, and they have strong relationships with many of our top vendors. 

Gigamon: Which Gigamon features stand out the most and make the product outstrip its competitors?

Chris: The visibility Gigamon provides on East-West traffic, as well as North-South, is a huge differentiator and something that stands out as a much-needed capability for our government customers.  

Gigamon: How do you see Carahsoft fit together with Gigamon to solve your customers’ problems?

Chris: As a value-adding distributor, we help connect Gigamon with applicable customers through our proactive sales and marketing capabilities. We can help customers see the value in Gigamon and understand how Gigamon can help them save money and make their existing tools more effective. We also have Gigamon added to more than 25 different federal and state contracts, providing customers an easier path to purchase. 

Gigamon: What is the most memorable moment associated with Gigamon as a partner? 

Chris: Being named “Gigamon Distributor of the Year” for the third time in a row in 2022 was an extremely memorable moment for us. We have put a lot of time, energy, and resources into this relationship, and it’s nice to be recognized for our efforts and contributions. 

 Gigamon: What are the wow moments associated with Gigamon? 

Chris: There have been many wow moments over the years, but one of the biggest has been the consistent year-over-year growth. The business has grown for us every year since 2014 and has been a top revenue-generating vendor for Carahsoft for the past few years.

Gigamon has also built an extremely channel-friendly team, most of whom have been with the company for many years and have developed incredible relationships with us, as well as with the partner community. That longevity and consistency has contributed immensely to their continued success and to the many “wow” moments over the years. 

Gigamon: What are some of the benefits of the Gigamon Partner Program that stand out? Trainings? Incentives? Discounts? Co-marketing?

Chris: As a proactive distributor, we rely on Gigamon to keep us updated on the messaging and content around new product offerings, partner integrations, and co-branded marketing. The partner program and the channel team at Gigamon do a great job of training our sales teams and keeping us current on our messaging, allowing us to support our reseller partners more effectively.

Gigamon: Thanks, Chris, for making time for us and for being such a wonderful partner!

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