Changing Channels

Episode 49: Citrix’s Carlos Blanco on Making CAMs Cloud Business Development Managers

A funny thing happened on the way to the cloud: The way we conduct business and sales changed. No longer is the technology market merely a series of transactions and box shipments. Fixation on quote retirement doesn’t do much to help partners develop books of business that result in stable and predictable recurring revenue streams. Partners need support in business transformation and maturation, and they need it from their channel account managers. Getting CAMs to act more like business development managers takes more than changing job descriptions. Vendors need to provide CAMs with direction, training, and resources. They also have to change their compensation plans. Carlos Blanco, senior director of Worldwide Cloud Service Providers at Citrix, joins Pod2112 to talk about the need for transforming the role of channel account managers in the cloud computing era.

Episode 48: 2112’s Alex Hart on Channel Fundamentals

The technology market is in a constant state of evolution. Disruptive and emerging technologies – cloud computing, mobility, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, etc. – and new delivery models – services and hybrid infrastructure – are disrupting the traditional channel. Vendors are aligning their channel programs to these new models. While channel strategy is evolving to meet current and future market dynamics, some things will not change. Alex Hart, a veteran executive of such vendors as Symantec, VMware, and Verizon Enterprise, joins Pod2112 to talk about the partnering fundamentals that remain unchanged amid disruptive technology trends. He also talks about his new role as senior vice president of strategic services at The 2112 Group.

Episode 47: Cyxtera’s Tina Gravel on Incenting Cloud Partners

Cloud computing was supposed to change everything about go-to-market strategies, and that included disrupting channel partners – and possibly making them obsolete. But it turns out that channel partners are as important as ever in helping vendors reach cloud customers. Surprisingly, many of the same incentives used in traditional channel programs are equally applicable in the cloud era. As Tina Gravel, senior vice president of channels and alliances at co-location vendor Cyxtera says, vendors are paying partners for access to customers, and traditional incentives like deal registration work well in this context. What works well, too, is co-selling, as many partners need help selling complex cloud services. All this adds up to vendors – both traditional and cloud – leaning on their standard incentive tools well into the cloud era.

Episode 46: SAP Ariba’s Natasha Loeffler-Little on Expediting Partner Time to Revenue

Every vendor wants partners to produce more revenue. The challenge is getting partners onboarded and enabled to sell and support vendors’ products and services. The channel is an important source of revenue for vendors, but not always quick. For many vendors, the onboarding and enablement process can take as long as six months, which delays partners from getting in the field to prospect and sell. Fast partner time to revenue is important because it gives vendor management confidence in the value of the channel program. For channel managers, though, partner time to revenue is a strong indicator of the potential of channel partners. Natasha Loeffler-Little, the head of North America channels at SAP Ariba, joins Pod2112 to talk about the importance and strategies for using partner time to revenue as a leading channel indicator.

Episode 45: Attivo’s Carolyn Crandall on Deceiving Hackers

Security professionals have long dismissed security by obscurity or attempts to hide information from hackers. In such schemes, hackers will sniff through the decoys and find the real assets. A new class of security technology – distributed deception – may change that thinking. Distributed deception creates authentic looking IT environments – complete with data and applications – to trick hackers. Through this approach, security teams can detect and stop attacks faster than through conventional means. Carolyn Crandall, the chief deception officer and chief marketing officer of Attivo, joins Pod2112 to talk about how distributed detection can make enterprise security more effective.

Episode 44: Brainlink’s Raj Goel on Privacy in the Age of Social Media and Big Data

Since the revelation that Cambridge Analytica harvested data from millions of Facebook accounts, people from Main Street to Capitol Hill are asking what privacy means in the age of social media. Many politicians are calling for new regulations to restrict what information companies can collect from their online users as well as what they can do with that data. Raj Goel, CTO and founder of security MSP Brainlink, and author of “UNPLUGGED Luddite's Guide To CyberSecurity.: What To Teach Your Kids & Grandparents Before They Access The Internet,” joins Pod2112 about the need for regulations to govern how companies gather and use personal data without crippling the ability to gather the raw material for beneficial technologies, such as Big Data.

Episode 43: Changing Channels: The Rise of Automated Marketplaces in B2B Sales

Consumerization is no longer just a retail thing, as businesses increasingly source IT products through automated channels and marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba. In a new research paper titled "Strategies for Engaging Automated Digital Sales Channels," The 2112 Group is taking a hard look at how this shift toward automated digital sales will roil traditional two-tier channels and force new relationships between vendors and partners. In this special episode of POD2112, Research VP Chris Gonsalves talks with the paper's author, 2112 CEO and Chief Analyst Larry Walsh, about ADS's potential impact on the existing channel and vendor go-to-market models, and how vendors should plan for this disruptive but potentially lucrative trend.

Episode 42: NINJIO’s Zack Schuler on Digestible Security Awareness Training

Security breaches are nearly a daily occurrence. Blaming hackers and foreign agents for hacking is easy, but the reality is that end users are largely responsible. Security policy violations, poor user practices, and outright carelessness are the root causes of most computer security incidents. Some think security awareness training is the solution, but this approach often fails because the materials and programs are unrelatable and poorly executed. Former managed services entrepreneur Zack Schuler saw the need for a better approach and started NINJIO, a firm that produces relatable, actionable security awareness content. Schuler joins Pod2112 to discuss how innovative approaches to security awareness training can yield better results.

Episode 41: Management Expert Tom Peters on ‘The Excellence Dividend’

Management guru Tom Peters spent the past five decades studying operational effectiveness in public and private organizations around the world. He rose to fame with his first book, “In Search of Excellence,” in which he first posited the notion that the pursuit of excellence is an underlying attribute in successful organizations. In his new book, “The Excellence Dividend,” Peters tells readers to try more things, screw more things up, hang out with more interesting people, and – above all – not settle for anything less than excellence. Peters joins Pod2112 to talk about “The Excellence Dividend,” why soft skills are more important in business than hard skills, why execution is more important than analysis, and how managers and companies need to slow down to truly reach their potential for excellence.

Episode 40: SAP’s Rodolpho Cardenuto on Creating Frictionless Partnerships

Channel chiefs often talk about improving “ease of doing business” between vendors and partners. Making things easier means sales will flow faster, followed by more revenue that benefits vendors and partners alike. However, the systems, processes and policies in channel programs create a labyrinth of complexity for partners. The more time partners spend navigating vendor systems and complying with policies, the less time they spend working with customers and generating sales. Rodolpho Cardenuto, president of SAP’s Global Partner Operations, believes creating frictionless partnerships is a necessity to ensure vendors and their partners are able to keep pace in meeting market needs and expectations. Cardenuto joins Pod2112 to talk about what it means to create and maintain frictionless channel programs.