Dive Brief:
- Netgear unveiled the latest version of its Insight networking platform Tuesday. The platform was designed to deliver AI-assisted network management tools and enterprise-grade security to small and midsize businesses and the channel partners that provide SMB networking services, the company said in the announcement.
- Insight 10.0 includes a unified dashboard that gives administratiors oversight of network performance and device health. The upgrade integrates secure access service edge capabilities built by Exium, a network security provider Netgear acquired in June 2025, and is hosted on AWS cloud infrastructure, Nat Chidambaram, senior director of product management, told Channel Dive.
- “We are targeting the small and medium enterprise, not the Fortune 500,” Chidambaram said. “Simplicity is what matters the most to these customers, along with scalability, price and security.”
Dive Insight:
Netgear’s platform play is part of a broader enterprise pivot by a provider with deeper roots in the consumer market. The company is leaning on partners to carve out a niche with small and midsize business owners who associate the Netgear brand more with home internet service than AI enablement.
“Customers around the world have used Netgear at some point in their life for the home services,” Chidambaram said. “The moment you say Netgear, that's what hits their brain, so we have to overcome that hump. It’s a blessing and a curse.”
Netgear has built out its enterprise IT footprint with an eye on growing its channel presence since appointing Charles Prober as CEO in 2024. Last year, the company retooled its partner program with a focus on the MSPs, value-added resellers and systems integrators that dominate the SMB technology space.
“Partner recruitment remains a top priority,” Prober said during an April earnings call, noting the company had roughly 150 active go-to-market partners registered in its portal. “This is still early innings, but the foundation is in place and the trajectory is encouraging.”
The channel is the key to unlocking SMB tech spend. More than three-quarters of small and midsize business IT spending will flow through the channel this year, according to analyst firm Omdia, a Channel Dive sister company. Network refreshes, along with cloud migrations and security upgrades are high on the list of SMB priorities, Matthew Ball, Omdia chief analyst for enterprise and channel, said in a February report.
Netgear’s channel efforts are already reaping rewards. The company’s enterprise segment increased its revenues 5.8% year over year to $83.3 million during the first three months of the year. The segment accounted for more than half of Netgear’s quarterly revenues, according to CFO Bryan Murray.
“We remain dedicated to the development and expansion of Netgear talent with the aim of supporting our enterprise business through the in-sourcing of software development and enhancing our go-to-market capabilities,” Murray said during the earnings call.
High-capacity AI workloads have made networking a priority. Nearly three-quarters of organizations are either grappling with network limitations or expecting to face issues in the next 24 months, according to a Cisco report published earlier this month.
Midmarket is the sweet spot, according to Chidambaram. Netgear has the product but not the resources to compete with Cisco, he said. However, a hefty cross-section of mid-level businesses need enterprise-grade networking packaged in a managed solution.
