Channel Voices

In this episode, we're discussing the importance of women's representation in leadership roles in the channel industry. Our guest today is Heather Zindel - Board Member and Vice President of Strategy & Operations at Women Executives Channel Advisory Network (WECAN), a leading organization that champions women's advancement in the channel.

We start the conversation by asking our guest to tell us about her background in the channel. …and it’s extensive!

Heather goes into the detail of WECAN, a non-profit organizastion and explains their primary mission. She explains that the main aim is to empower women in the channel industry by providing them with networking opportunities, mentoring, coaching and resources to advance their careers.

She gives examples of challenges which include gender bias, lack of mentorship opportunities, and other barriers that prevent women from accessing leadership positions.

We also delve into how companies and organizations can create a more inclusive culture that supports the advancement of women into leadership roles. She stresses that companies need to make this into a sustainable culture and not just a one-time or once a year event.

Overall, our guest provides valuable insights and guidance on how to create a more diverse and inclusive culture in the channel industry, where women have equal opportunities to advance into leadership roles.

Thank you for tuning in to Channel Voices!

External Links:

Heather's LinkedIn Profile

(WECAN) Women Executives Channel Advisory Network website

WECAN - Contact

Channel Voices is currently sponsored by Meter (https://www.meter.com/channelvoices). 

To stay up to date follow us on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to Channel Voices Scope, a monthly LinkedIn newsletter where we provide you with additional information accompanying the podcast. We hope you find this newsletter informative and useful for your career and organisation.

Visit www.ChannelVoices.com

Until next time 👋

I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Lynn D. Tinney, who pretty much ‘grew up in the channel’. She gathered her substantial experience working at companies like Compaq Computers, Enterasys Networks, Siemens, Samsung, Cisco, Riverbed and CA Technologies to name a few. In January 2022 she took on the role of Senior Vice Presidents of Global Partners at Zayo. It’s in this capacity where she took the initiative of creating a Partner Advisory Board.

Partner advisory boards provide a platform for partners to engage with a vendor company and provide valuable feedback, leading to stronger partnerships and increased growth.

Key Points:

1. How to create a successful Partner Advisory Board 
   • Define the board's objectives
   • Choose the right partners
   • Provide clear guidelines and expectations
2. Best practices for running a Partner Advisory Board 
   • Encourage active participation from partners
   • Foster open and honest communication
   • Implement feedback into your channel strategy
3. Post first Partner Advisory Board meeting 
   • Continue to meet regularly
   • Communicate actions and commitments
   • Continuously assess and improve

External Links:

Lynn's LinkedIn Profile

Channel Voices is currently sponsored by Meter (https://www.meter.com/channelvoices). 

To stay up to date follow us on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to Channel Voices Scope, a monthly LinkedIn newsletter where we provide you with additional information accompanying the podcast. We hope you find this newsletter informative and useful for your career and organisation.

Visit www.ChannelVoices.com

Until next time 👋

In this episode we explore what TCMA is, how it works, who is it for and best practices on how to get started.

Sherry explains in detail how essential TCMA is in today's fast-paced channel ecosystem and what it can achieve for vendors, distributors and their partners. 

We also discuss the pr-requisites, efforts and cost of implementing such solution as well as the metrics that are typically being looked to ensure that it's delivering what it promises. 

External Links:

Sherry's LinkedIn Profile

AscendX Digital Website

Channel Voices is currently sponsored by Meter (https://www.meter.com/channelvoices). 

To stay up to date follow us on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to Channel Voices Scope, a monthly LinkedIn newsletter where we provide you with additional information accompanying the podcast. We hope you find this newsletter informative and useful for your career and organisation.

Visit www.ChannelVoices.com

Until next time 👋

I've had the pleasure to speak with a fellow podcaster and the SVP, Global Channel & Alliances at BeyondTrust Rob Spee, on the role of a Channel Chief. Previously he has held channel leadership positions with companies like Carbonite, SAS and Outsystems as well as running his own Channel Consultancy business. 

Rob shares his channel journey and how he got to this point in his career. He takes us through some of the responsibilities of a channel chief, we learn about his typical day in the role and what are the areas of his focus. He also shares with us some very practical pieces of advice for those who aspire to become a channel chief one day. 

Rob Spee is an accomplished podcast host with his own Channel Journeys podcast which has more than 100 episodes

External Links:

Rob's LinkedIn Profile

Channel Journeys Podcast

Channel Journeys episode with Rich Blakeman on the Hybrid Sales Channel

Channel Voices is currently sponsored by Meter (https://www.meter.com/channelvoices). 

To stay up to date follow us on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to Channel Voices Scope, a monthly LinkedIn newsletter where we provide you with additional information accompanying the podcast. We hope you find this newsletter informative and useful for your career and organisation.

Visit www.ChannelVoices.com

Until next time 👋

I've really enjoyed speaking with Joe O'Callaghan - Managing Partner at Vation Ventures. 

Joe tells us more about what Vation Ventures do and how they help technology companies start and enhance their channel journey. We also spend quite some time discussing how to start, elevate and accelerate a career in the channel. 

Joe shares his knowledge and experience on what to concentrate on when starting your channel career and what to focus on next.

He tells us how he started his channel career and also gives us his TOP tips for anyone thinking of getting into a channel role. 

External Links:

Joe's LinkedIn Profile

Vation Ventures Website

Channel Voices is currently sponsored by Meter (https://www.meter.com/channelvoices). 

To stay up to date follow us on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to Channel Voices Scope, a monthly LinkedIn newsletter where we provide you with additional information accompanying the podcast. We hope you find this newsletter informative and useful for your career and organisation.

Visit www.ChannelVoices.com

Until next time 👋

Great conversation with Jacqui Rand of The Channel Consultants Limited and the person behind The Channel Meet Up event. 

Jacqui gives us an insight into the needs of today's channel teams and explains why these teams are typically the smaller ones in terms of number of employees. We also get her perspective on current best practice when hiring talent for the channel. 

External Links:

Jacqui's LinkedIn Profile

The Channel Consultants

The Channel Meet Up Event

Channel Acronyms Infographic - The A-Z List

Channel Sales Acronyms - The A-Z List for Channel Professionals

Channel Voices is currently sponsored by Meter (https://www.meter.com/channelvoices). 

To stay up to date follow us on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to Channel Voices Scope, a monthly LinkedIn newsletter where we provide you with additional information accompanying the podcast. We hope you find this newsletter informative and useful for your career and organisation.

Visit www.ChannelVoices.com

Until next time 👋

Today's guest is a seasoned Channel Pro who worked for companies like Nortel and Avaya.
Today, Kenneth leads the Channel Mechanics business and he tells us why automation in the channel is no longer just a 'nice-to-have' but a 'must'.  We talk about the typical channel business challenges that Channel Mechanics PRM solves for the vendors and their partners but also what vendors need to look out for when deploying a PRM solution.
Kenneth shares his knowledge based on a multitude of successful PRM deployment projects delivered for vendors ranging from start-ups to ones with well established channel presence with thousands of partners.

External Links:

Kenneth's LinkedIn Profile

Channel Mechanics Website

Channel Voices is currently sponsored by Meter (https://www.meter.com/channelvoices). 

To stay up to date follow us on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to Channel Voices Scope, a monthly LinkedIn newsletter where we provide you with additional information accompanying the podcast. We hope you find this newsletter informative and useful for your career and organisation.

Visit www.ChannelVoices.com

Until next time 👋

I've had a lot of fun speaking with Christian Alvarez - Senior Vice President of Worldwide Channels at Nutanix. 

Christian tells us about his proven strategies to drive sales through channel. We learn how these strategies differ between the traditional software vendor and a SaaS vendor.

He shares his knowledge and experience on what type of partner incentives have the biggest impact on new logo acquisition as well as increasing wallet share from existing channel customers

Christian also gives us his TOP 3 tips for driving channel sales. 

External Links:

Christian's LinkedIn Profile

CRN Article Link

Nutanix’s global channel chief Christian Alvarez talks to CRN about its new distributor partner program, its new “percent” partnership with Supermicro and how channel incentives could be “disaggregated” in the future. 

Nutanix's Elevate Partner Program

Channel Voices is currently sponsored by Meter (https://www.meter.com/channelvoices). 

To stay up to date follow us on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to Channel Voices Scope, a monthly LinkedIn newsletter where we provide you with additional information accompanying the podcast. We hope you find this newsletter informative and useful for your career and organisation.

Visit www.ChannelVoices.com

Until next time 👋

It's a delight to speak with Jason Beal - SVP, Global Channel & Partner Ecosystems at AvePoint who advocates for Managed Service Providers and the value they bring to channel. 

Jason shares his knowledge and experience around MSP partnerships and the importance and benefits of their role in the channel .

We learn how vendors should choose, work with and measure Managed Service Provider partners. Jason also highlights his TOP 3 tips for any vendor thinking about introducing MSP type partners into their ecosystem.

External Links:

Jason's LinkedIn Profile

AvePoint's Partner Program

Channel Voices is currently sponsored by Meter (https://www.meter.com/channelvoices). 

To stay up to date follow us on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to Channel Voices Scope, a monthly LinkedIn newsletter where we provide you with additional information accompanying the podcast. We hope you find this newsletter informative and useful for your career and organisation.

Visit www.ChannelVoices.com

Until next time 👋

It's an absolute pleasure to speak with Paula Carvalho, an international channel strategist who's passionate about partner recruitment as this is the foundation of channel success. 

Paula takes us on a journey and we explore three areas crucial to building a vendor's channel ecosystem:

1. Organisational Readiness
2. Enter the market with a bang!
3. Select partners right for the job  

We learn tips on how vendors should approach potential partners and get them excited about working together.

Paula also shares how she sees the channel management evolving and what the future might look like.

External Links:

Paula's LinkedIn Profile

Channel Voices is currently sponsored by Meter (https://www.meter.com/channelvoices). 

To stay up to date follow us on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to Channel Voices Scope, a monthly LinkedIn newsletter where we provide you with additional information accompanying the podcast. We hope you find this newsletter informative and useful for your career and organisation.

Visit www.ChannelVoices.com

Until next time 👋