Changing Channels

Episode 82: Sensorium’s Amy Luby on IoT Managed Services

The Internet of Things trend is creating massive product and service sales opportunities. Businesses are spending billions of dollars acquiring new sensors, infrastructure, and applications to leverage IoT devices and systems to improve operations, create new experiences, and capitalize on emerging models. In the channel, IoT is still an emerging opportunity. Vendors are developing channel programs, and solution providers are beginning to adopt the technologies.

 The market, though, is still struggling to figure out how to best implement and maximize IoT investments with limited experience and resources. A potential solution is the extension of managed services to the IoT segment. Sensorium, a Carnegie Technologies company specializing in IoT managed services, is helping solution providers and their customers identify opportunities and capture business by providing the means and resources for delivering IoT as a service. Channel chief Amy Luby joins POD2112 to talk about the unfolding opportunities and potential in IoT managed services.

Episode 81: Blackberry’s Richard McLeod on Reviving a Brand and Channel

Once upon a time, when cell phones did little more than voice services, the go-to mobile device for business executives was the trusted Blackberry. These communications devices with their monochrome display, roller-ball controller, and physical keypad untethered busy executives from their personal computers by giving them mobile emails, text messages, and voice services. 

 The days of Blackberry the device is over, swept away by the flood of iPhones and Android devices. Blackberry the company, though, is enjoying a renaissance. Over the last five years, Blackberry reinvented itself as an Internet of Things and security vendor by leveraging the best of its legacy technology and expertise. 

 Blackberry has a sizable and growing network of channel partners, and it’s looking for more resellers, integrators and service providers that can help meet the growing demand for security, mobility, IoT solutions. Richard McLeod, global vice president of enterprise software channels, joins Pod2112 to talk about the transformation and evolution of Blackberry, and where the company wants to go with partners.

Episode 80: Bechtle’s Thomas Jensen on Effective Business Strategy

Strategy is something often talked about and considered a necessity in business yet is largely misunderstood and misapplied. An effective strategy is the combination of vision, objectives and direction that set the course and tempo of business. Through strategy, businesses have focus that drives their day-to-day operations and clarifies decision-making. Creating effective business strategy isn’t easy, though. Managers can get distracted by legacy interests and short-term incentives. Strategy, when done right, can ensure businesses remain properly oriented toward goals and prepared for near- and long-term market conditions. Thomas Jensen, executive vice president of German systems integrator Bechtle and a veteran strategist of Hewlett Packard and Maersk, joins Pod2112 to share what it takes to understand, build and execute effective business strategy.

Episode 79: Ingram Micro’s Eric Hembree on Limitless IoT Opportunities

The Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming nearly every aspect of the commercial and consumer worlds. Through sensors, autonomous systems, and analytics applications, IoT is bringing automation and digital control to businesses, government agencies, and homes at an unprecedented scale. In 2019, businesses will spend more than $745 billion on IoT systems and services. By 2025, the world will have 75 to 125 billion IoT devices connected to the Internet. And that’s only the beginning. While IoT presents a tremendous opportunity for vendors and solution providers alike, the latter has been slow to act on this emerging opportunity, which is why distributor Ingram Micro is dedicating resources and support to help partners develop IoT practices. Eric Hembree, director of IoT at Ingram Micro, is leading the charge in developing the IoT channel. Hembree joins POD2112 to discuss the current and future state of the IoT market and channel.

 

Episode 78: Special Edition: Evolving Channels in the Digital Age

Channel chiefs know they have to adapt or die in a technology market undergoing rapid and continuous change. Vendors are taking different approaches to channel transformation, but all have common characteristics that involve data analytics, cultural evolution, innovative compensation models, and new partner types and models.

At the annual Channel Focus North America, the premier channel executive event produced by Baptie & Co., 2112 CEO and Pod2112 host Larry Walsh moderated a panel on channel transformation in the digital transformation age. The panel featured four seasoned channel leaders who brought different perspectives to the channel transformation challenge. In this special edition of Pod2112 features highlights of the discussion with Alyssa Fitzpatrick of Microsoft, Nick Tidd of Poly, Darren Bibby of DocuSign, and Chris Jones of AT&T.

Episode 77: Steelcase’s Jennifer McCready on Smart Office Furniture Channels

Steelcase’s Jennifer McCready on Smart Office Furniture Channels

Office furniture is big business, with companies ranging from SMBs to enterprises spending more than $11 billion annually on workstations, desks, chairs and other appointments necessary to operate a contemporary workplace. Many people think of office furniture as inert, a necessity that’s part of the operational infrastructure. However, office furniture is increasingly influencing or influenced by technology. Office workers need furnishing that enables, complements, and enhances the functionality of technology – everything from desktop computers to notebooks to displays to collaboration and teleconferencing equipment. As PCs replaced typewriters, office furniture manufacturers amended their designs to accommodate the digital devices. Today, they and their dealers are collaborating with technology companies and solution providers to integrate technology and furniture to create holistic, flexible, and productive work environments. Jennifer McCready, manager of global channel development at office furniture manufacturer Steelcase joins Pod2112 to talk about the evolution of office furniture and the potential for crossover collaboration in the technology channel.

Episode 76: VMware’s Jenni Flinders on Transforming for the Hybrid World

Businesses are increasingly less interested in the features and functions of their IT equipment and software and more concerned about their experiences and the outcomes coming from their technology investments. Hybrid cloud computing is one of the biggest segments seeing this shift in customer expectations for better outcomes. VMware is seeing big gains from hybrid cloud computing, as it continues to shift its focus away from being the virtualization company that delivers hypervisors to a facilitator of cloud operations and management. A significant part of that shift is in the way VMware is transforming its channel program, partner relationships, go-to-market enablement, and incentives. Jenni Flinders, vice president, and global channel chief at VMware, is driving an ongoing channel transformation effort to enable partners to perform better in the outcome-based hybrid cloud computing market. Flinders joins Pod2112 to share how VMware is approaching channel transformation and how she sees the channel’s future unfolding.

Episode 75: Crowdstrike’s Fernando Quintero on Business Development in Latin America

In the global IT market, Latin America is lumped into the “rest of the world” category that contributes less than 10% of spending. Overall, the 48 Latin America countries and territories contribute less than 4% to global IT spending, making it a relatively small market.

Nevertheless, Latin America – a composite of South America, Central America and the Caribbean Islands – is a massive market opportunity. The region is home to more than 650 million people, two of the largest economies in the world – Brazil and Mexico, and $10.5 trillion in economic activity annually. The tremendous labor pool and abundant natural resources make Latin America a prime growth opportunity.

Doing business in Latin America isn’t easy, though. Political and economic instability, corruption, regressive import laws, complicated tax codes, high crime areas, and poor infrastructure makes Latin America look like a difficult – if not undesirable – place to do business.

Fernando Quintero, the vice president of Latin America at security vendor Crowdstrike, knows Latin America. A native of Venezuela, Quintero worked in around the Latin America market much of his career. He was a sales representative in Latin America and the Caribbean for Compaq, ran Latin American channels for McAfee, and oversaw Latin America as part of his role as the Americas channel chief at McAfee. Now, he’s developing the Latin America sales and channel go-to-market operation for Crowdstrike.

Quintero joins Pod2112 to share his insights and experiences in developing viable and thriving channel operations in the challenging but lucrative Latin America technology market.

Episode 74: Ingram Micro’s Paul Bay on the Evolving Value of Distribution

If vendors are the suppliers of technology goods and services, and partners are the feet on the street, the distribution is the backbone of the entire go-to-market value chain. Traditionally, distribution served a valuable role in providing the warehousing and logistics that simplified inventory management for vendors and provided easy access to products for solution providers. No longer, though, as distributors are investing heavily in evolving their capabilities to become influences and catalysts of the end customer experience. Through investments in cloud computing, technical support, and professional services, distributors are anticipating market needs and helping vendors and partners develop new solutions and ply new routes to market. Paul Bay, executive vice president and group president of the Americas at Ingram Micro joins Pod2112 to discuss how the distribution segment of the technology industry is evolving its value proposition, and the role distributors will play in future go-to-market strategies.

Episode 73: Konica Minolta on Transforming Copier Dealers into MSPs

Photocopiers and multifunction devices will remain fixtures of the office as long as the printed page remains. However, the days of the photocopier dealer are waning. It’s getting harder for dealers to remain viable selling and supporting photocopiers, which is why many have adopted IT managed services as a means for extending their value proposition.

Copier dealers have an advantage that many of their IT cousins don’t: A total view into the business operations of the customer. And that insider view enables copiers to identify technology needs, recommend solutions and deliver services. Today, the average channel partner earns more than 20 percent of their income from managed services, and the share of revenue derived from services will continue to grow as more customers adopt and expand with the IT as a service model. It’s truly a huge opportunity for all partners, but copier dealers in particular.

For the copier dealer channel, transformation isn’t so much an opportunity, but an imperative. As more businesses become digital, they move forward to a paperless environments. In fact, the printer technology segment has seen continuous decline in printed pages for the past decade. Managed services isn’t just about extending copier dealer value, but providing a pathway to renewed relevancy and viability.

Like many printer and copier vendors, Konica Minolta is working to help traditional dealers transform their legacy business models to adopt and extend into IT managed services. In a strategy that builds on adjacencies to its core photocopier and print business, Konica Minolta is providing copier dealers with the resources, training and support that enables them to participate in the managed services segment.

Sam Errigo, senior vice president of business intelligence services at Konica Minolta, joins Pod2112 to talk about the need for copier dealers to adopt managed services and what resources are available to help them make the transition from the static support to automated services.