CrowdStrike named Omdia's overall champion for ecosystem

CrowdStrike has been named Overall Champion in Omdia's 2026 Cybersecurity Platform Ecosystems Leadership Matrix, ranking highest and furthest to the right among 24 vendors.

Omdia said the ranking was based on analyst assessment, partner feedback and performance metrics. It cited CrowdStrike's scaled partner ecosystem and growth in co-sell activity, services and cloud marketplaces.

The recognition focuses on CrowdStrike's efforts to broaden commercial ties around its Falcon platform, including expansion with managed security service providers, systems integrators, hyperscale cloud providers and artificial intelligence partners.

Managed services were one of the clearest signs of that expansion. CrowdStrike said its MSSP business grew to more than $1.3 billion in total contract value over the past three years.

Cloud marketplace sales also featured prominently in the assessment. Contract value through AWS Marketplace was nearing $1.5 billion in CrowdStrike's 2026 financial year, alongside hundreds of millions of dollars through Google Cloud Marketplace and a broader push into Microsoft Marketplace.

Partner growth

Service delivery partnerships have also expanded. CrowdStrike highlighted work with Accenture, Deloitte, EY, Kroll and Wipro as part of a broader effort to enable partners to deliver services around its platform.

The company has also extended ties with major technology groups, pointing to alliances with AWS, Google, Microsoft and NVIDIA; partnerships with Anthropic, OpenAI and Perplexity; and infrastructure collaborations with CoreWeave and Nebius.

In Europe, CrowdStrike also pointed to alignment with Schwarz Digits on sovereign cloud requirements, reflecting a broader industry focus on data residency and regional control over security services.

Commercial terms are another part of the partner strategy. CrowdStrike said it expanded its Accelerate Partner Program with incentives, more predictable pricing and greater licensing flexibility through Falcon Flex, including consumption-based services.

AI ecosystem

Artificial intelligence has become a larger part of the company's pitch to partners. CrowdStrike said it launched the Charlotte AI AgentWorks ecosystem to let partners build and commercialise custom AI security agents.

The move places CrowdStrike among security vendors trying to give partners a way to package new AI-based services on top of existing security software. Across the sector, vendors have been looking for ways to make AI offerings part of channel sales, cloud marketplace transactions and managed services contracts.

For CrowdStrike, the Omdia ranking adds external endorsement to a strategy focused as much on distribution and partner economics as on product development. In cybersecurity, where large customers often buy through integrators, service providers and marketplaces, the breadth of a partner network can influence sales reach and implementation work.

Daniel Bernard, Chief Business Officer at CrowdStrike, said the result reflected how the company views competition in the market. "Cybersecurity is an ecosystem game, and the platform decides who wins," Bernard said. "Omdia's recognition reinforces what our partners and customers tell us every day - they're standardizing on the Falcon platform and building on it. This is what it looks like when the ecosystem is built on the platform, not bolted on. That's what scales, and that's what stops breaches."

Omdia framed the strategy as part of a broader shift in how security suppliers work with third parties. "CrowdStrike's ecosystem strategy reflects a clear shift from traditional partnerships to a platform model where partners can build, monetize, and deliver differentiated services at scale," said Matthew Ball, Chief Analyst, Enterprise & Channel at Omdia. "Its expansion across hyperscalers, AI partners, and marketplaces - combined with new opportunities to develop and commercialize AI-driven services - positions CrowdStrike to drive the next phase of ecosystem growth."

Partner feedback also formed part of the ranking process. "CrowdStrike continues to raise the bar for what a modern cybersecurity platform ecosystem should look like," said Mark Thornberry, SVP, Partnerships at GuidePoint Security. "We've built an incredible business together, and it remains one of the strongest partnerships we have today. The Falcon platform continually creates new opportunities for us to grow and deliver meaningful security outcomes for customers."