“Partners Don’t Want Noise – They Want Outcomes” – Halcyon’s Dave Pawlowski on Redefining Channel Growth

He’s sharp, direct, and knows exactly where he’s headed. That clarity comes through in how he talks about partners, programs, and outcomes - Dave Pawlowski, VP of Global Channel Sales at Halcyon, doesn’t waste words. With more than two decades in the channel, he’s seen it all: the boom of resale, the rise of managed services, and now, the shift toward resilience as a service. Having led channel strategy in organizations like Palo Alto, PureStorage, and Tanium in the past, he knows what really drives partner success and how to build programs that make it happen. At Halcyon, he’s applying that same focus to help MSPs and MSSPs turn ransomware defense into a stronger, more profitable part of their business.

Dave stepped into the role at Halcyon in September and hit the ground running. He’s grown the team from three to ten, built dedicated tracks for regional and national partners, and launched a focused MSP strategy that’s already taking shape.

Speaking to ChannelE2E, Dave talked about how the partner landscape is changing, why Halcyon’s ransomware platform fits perfectly into MSP and MSSP workflows, and what “success” will look like when this new channel model really clicks.

ChannelE2E: From where you sit now, what are the biggest shifts you’ve seen in the partner and MSP ecosystem? What changes will you drive in the program in response, and where do you still see room to improve?

Dave Pawlowski: The biggest change I’ve seen in the last few years is the rise of MSPs and MSSPs. Customers don’t want to manage their environments anymore. Whether it’s in the data center or at the endpoint, they want partners to handle it. Five or six years ago, I shifted toward managed services because I saw buying behavior changing. Customers weren’t spending big money on hardware to sit in their environments. They wanted partners to manage it. That move rounded out my experience, and it’s been the best decision I made.

Everywhere you look, resellers are acquiring managed services companies. The traditional resale margins of three to five points are gone. Partners can make much more by managing environments - typically five to seven dollars of services revenue for every dollar of license sold.

At Halcyon, we’re building a strong MSSP focus. We’re developing the right services and programs to help them partner more deeply with us. We already have multitenant capabilities and other product enhancements that will make it easier to serve that market.

ChannelE2E: How are you balancing the traditional resale model with the services-led approach?

Dave Pawlowski: It’s not one or the other - it’s both. I have three teams: regional, national/distribution, and MSSP. All three are critical.

Historically, we’ve relied heavily on VARs, and that won’t change, but we’ll be more strategic about who we partner with. We currently have around 350 partners worldwide, which is too many. I want to focus on those that will drive deeper relationships and better outcomes.

Halcyon has done a great job generating its own opportunities, with 75–80% of deals coming from our field team and routed to partners. That needs to flip. We’re pushing for more partner-sourced business and creating stronger reciprocity - if we bring deals to partners, we want them bringing deals back.

We’re focusing resources and MDF where we see the highest return instead of spreading it thin. That approach gives us measurable ROI and tighter collaboration.

ChannelE2E: What challenges do you anticipate as you scale globally?

Dave Pawlowski: Scale is always tricky, especially maintaining consistent engagement. That’s why I brought on Climb as a distributor. They’re one of the largest software distributors in North America and can help us extend our reach efficiently.

We’ve also partnered with Carahsoft on the public sector side and are seeing strong momentum there. Between Climb and Carahsoft, we’re leveraging hundreds of channel-focused sellers without having to build a massive in-house team. They help onboard, train, and enable partners that might otherwise be too small for our direct team to manage.

We’re not trying to replace anyone’s EDR. Every one of our customers who suffered a ransomware attack already had an EDR in place. Hackers still got through. Halcyon isn’t a rip-and-replace; it’s an enhancement. That’s what distributors like Climb understand—we complement existing tools and expand the value of EDR investments.

ChannelE2E: Partners are juggling tool overload. How does Halcyon fit into existing SOC and MSP workflows without adding complexity?

Dave Pawlowski: We actually provide 24x7 SOC services that come bundled with our offering. We filter out noise and alert partners only when something genuinely needs attention. We’re not flooding them with false positives. If there’s an issue - say, an attempt to exfiltrate data - we flag it, stop it, and escalate it clearly.

We’re focused on simplifying, not adding consoles or alert fatigue. Partners get meaningful alerts that help them act fast.

ChannelE2E: What does partner enablement look like for you?

Dave Pawlowski: Enablement is huge for us. We just launched a new LMS to train both internal teams and partners. It went live this week. We’re building learning tracks for different roles - sales, technical, and by verticals like healthcare, which is our fastest-growing segment. We’re keeping it simple with short, 15–20 minute modules. No long videos. The idea is to make it easy for partners to consume on their own time.

The new Partner Experience lead will own the portal, curate content, and close any gaps we identify. My team can’t train every partner directly, so we’re building the infrastructure to scale enablement globally.

ChannelE2E: How will you measure partner success?

Dave Pawlowski: For me, it’s about partner-sourced business. We’re 100% channel, so every deal goes through partners, but today, most are Halcyon-sourced. I want to see partners bringing us opportunities.

We’re rewarding that behavior with additional protected margins for partner-sourced deals. My goal is to raise partner-sourced business from 20–25% to 50% by the end of this year.

We’ll track deal registrations and how quickly they turn into real opportunities - ideally within 30 days. The number of active partners, repeat deals, and partner bookings is an indicator of success.

ChannelE2E: What are you prioritizing next to strengthen the partner experience?

Dave Pawlowski: The focus is on enablement, marketing alignment, and onboarding. We’re investing in partners who deliver results, not just signing paper.

We’re also planning to introduce program tiers and possibly partner advisory councils for both resale and MSSP partners. Their needs are different, and we want to hear directly from them.

Every conversation I’ve had with partners so far points to the same priorities - protected margin, consistency, and repeatability. That’s where we’re headed.

ChannelE2E: Any message for MSPs and MSSPs as you take on this role?

Dave Pawlowski: Reach out. MSPs and MSSPs are a vital part of our strategy. Many of them are already managing thousands of endpoints with EDRs like CrowdStrike or SentinelOne. When ransomware slips through, they’re the ones getting the call.

We want to help them pinpoint issues fast, limit damage, and protect their customers. That’s what we do, and we’re excited to partner with them to make ransomware protection stronger and simpler.