Distribution Central has launched a remote install service for Palo Alto Networks partners who don't have their own in-house expertise or who require extra support.

PANassist, which is delivered through Distribution Central's ChannelSupport technical assistance centre, provides two or five day 'remote hands' assistance for partners.

“Since signing on as a Palo Alto Networks distributor last year, we have been recruiting new partners who need some additional support as they go through the certification process, so we decided to launch this new service in response to our partners’ needs,” says Scott Frew, Distribution Central executive chairman.

The distributor says Palo Alto Networks' next generation firewalls have caused a shift in the security market and resellers are being asked by customers to install a new type of firewall – an application-aware firewall.

The company says while resellers are up-skilling in this area through certified training courses they may still require support if they've just begun the on-boarding process and are experiencing a first or second customer installation.

Others may require extra resources for a particular installation, Distribution Central says.

“We have excellent technical resources within ChannelSupport, our Palo Alto Networks technical assistance centre that is already delivering Level 1 and Level 2 helpdesk support, so we are simply extending our support to cover installation as well,” Frew says.

The remote engagement includes deploying the firewall, registration and activation of devices and licenses, configurations through to testing, migration and VPN.