Ultimate Partner®

The year 2017 was a most significant year in the technology industry. The digital transformation we've all been discussing is happening fast. Many experts in the industry have told me this year that change and transformation are happening even faster than they had expected. With the start of a new year, many technology companies are looking for guidance on where to place their bets for continued success and learn to skate to where the puck is going in 2018.

To help inform the discussion, I turned to a good friend and encore interview guest Tony Safoian the CEO of SADA Systems. I invited Tony to join me for an interview in front of a live audience at The Channel Company's NexGen Conference in Los Angeles, California on December 12, 2017. Thank you, Robert DeMarzo for making it all possible.

SADA Systems is a family owned company that has grown from a "small IT shop" to $100M in annual revenue and premier partner status with Facebook, Google, and Microsoft.

Tony was an early guest, Episode 3 of Ultimate Guide to Partnering and my most downloaded episode in Season 1. SADA has a strong track record of incredible growth and Tony joined me onstage to discuss where SADA is investing for continued success, how he’s recruiting and hiring top talent and where he sees the continued transformation in 2018.

In our onstage interview we discuss:

* His company's story.

* His secrets to how he has attained and maintains premier status with three of the top five technology giants*.

* Challenges he has faced balancing field relationships with these technology leaders and how he continually builds trust.

* How he looks at micro - incubations or micro investments to drive future innovations.

* Where he sees the growth and where he is investing in the future.

* What he’s seeing happening faster today than he expected with the transformation.

* What customers expect today in terms of rearchitecting their services

* SADA's culture and how grit and determination instilled in his family has influenced it.

* Attracting and maintaining top talent today and particularly women in technology.

* Where is the technology sector headed in 2018?

* Decisions he made to take the organization from a small IT shop to $100M company.

*As of this writing, the top five technology companies in terms of valuation are Amazon, Apple,

As we approach year's end, I asked my good friend and New York Times BestSelling author, Don Yaeger to join me for a special encore episode to discuss his latest book along with leadership lessons and principles that he has applied to a successful career and personal life.

This episode is a little different than our typical episodes, but there are some great nuggets and leadership lessons that Don shares from a rich career and engagement with leaders in all aspects of business.

For this 36th Episode Don Yaeger shares:

* Leadership lessons from his latest New York Times Best Selling book  - Andrew Jackson & the Miracle of New Orleans.

* A leadership principle that has kept him focused on his business.

* How he has learned to stay focused on one thing at a time.

* How he writes books - his best creation time and why he doesn't suffer from "writer's block" when facing a deadline.

* The best piece of advice he received when he planned to leave the corporate world and venture into his own business writing books and speaking.

* His morning rituals - a typical Don Yaeger morning and how he balances a hectic life.

* How he dealt with a really rough situation in his business.

* Core operating principles he follows and instills in his company.

* "The 16 Characteristics of What Makes a Great Teammate" from his NYT Best Selling Book "Teammate"and how that translates to what makes great partnerships. Including the best trait to follow for an organization going through a significant transformation

* Humble - Make a point to praise others, especially when you are being praised.

* Fully Engaged - Be present at all times. Notice all that is happening.

* Encouraging - Identify those co-workers who are struggling and find ways to inspire them.

* Respected - Allow your voice to be heard in a manner that holds people accountable.

* Reliable - Be consistent in your roles so your team knows what to expect of you everyday.

* Problem Solver - When a mistake is made, lead the team to a solution instead of placing blame.

* Resourceful - share your expertise with these co workers in your circle.

* Willing to Sacrifice - Assume whatever role necessary - never say no it's not my job.

* Positive - When things go wrong, highlight the upside.

* Communicators - If you have something constructive to add, speak-up.

* Relationship Builders - Beyond your department, build bridges.

* Honest - Transparent and well-intended for the betterment of the team.

* Hard Workers - Arrive early and exceed expectations.

* Always Ready - Volunteer for assignments no one else wants.

* Competitors - remind others that winning matters to you.

* Fun - remain approachable, reliable and friendly.

Don has written 27 books and 11 are New York Times Bestsellers and his books make great holiday gifts. You can search site here or contact Don directly and mention that you heard this podcast [email protected].

You can listen to the podcast here or on iTunes, Stitcher,

One area where transformation has the potential for high impact that improves lives is Public Safety. A few short years ago, data security and data sharing was a huge impediment to the use of the cloud in this market. That's when one of the tech giants invested in CJIS - Criminal Justice and Information Systems certifications to allay governmental agency concerns. Today with these certifications as an enabler, the cloud promises to drive significant transformation in public safety and opens up opportunities for partners.

For my 35th episode of the Ultimate Guide to Partnering, I welcome Rick Zak the Justice and Public Safety Solutions Director at Microsoft. In his role, Rick provides guidance on strategy, technology, and policy for law enforcement, situational awareness, collaboration and video, emergency management and corrections systems. On this podcast we discuss how  transformative technologies are impacting this sector and how the cloud promises to drive significant transformation in public safety and law enforcement markets.

Our conversation explores how government has the unique opportunity to improve lives and protect citizens through technology as part of their "smart cities" initiatives. Microsoft has it's own smart city program known as City Next. It’s a really great conversation for partners looking to learn more about this market, how the perception of Cloud has changed, and how Microsoft Gov Cloud drives transformation in this market.

In this episode we explore:

* How Microsoft serves the law enforcement and public safety community.

* How this evolved from core infrastructure to supporting the transformative capabilities of the cloud.

* How Rick ended up focused on this specific vertical.

* Three areas where the cloud opens up transformation.

* How the perception of "cloud" has changed in the Law Enforcement market.

* Solutions he is seeing in this market from ISV's - Independent Solution Vendors.

* The opportunity for partners to take their core competencies from other sectors and markets into public sector.

* How IoT - Internet of Things - devices and sensors are changing the conversation.

* Characteristics of a great partner, advice for partners that struggle and the work he does to help partners along their transformational journey to the cloud.

* Books he’s gifted - Lincoln by Gore Vidal and Connections by James Burke.

* How you can reach Rick to engage https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardzak/

You can listen to the podcast here or on iTunes, Stitcher,

The pace of change and transformation is happening fast, customers are moving to public cloud infrastructures at a rate not seen before, open source technologies and tools are enabling it and partners need to be adaptable.

These are messages that resonated when I recently met with  Jason Rook,  for a special encore interview and update on the state of the transformation from his vantage point.

Jason is the Vice President of Market Development for 10th Magnitude, an early "Born in the Cloud" partner. Microsoft chose 10th as its 2017 Partner of the Year for Infrastructure and Hybrid Cloud.

On Episode 13 of my podcast, Jason and I discussed the company’s evolution and growth and in this interview episode he shares what he is observing today from his vantage point.

In this interview we discuss the rate of change and growth, emerging technology trends and why brand, employees and customers are the new currency. By listening to this episode of the podcast, you’ll learn:

1. The rapid sun-setting of on-premise data centers and the shift of customers to embracing public cloud. His company has migrated 166 data centers to the public cloud in 2017.

2. Containerization and how this technology is giving customers flexibility and scale.

3. The trend toward Open Source.

4. Why he believes customers choose Microsoft as their Public Cloud.

5. How he is viewing Microsoft’s internal change and transformation as a partner.

6. Why “ focus” as a partner is critical to branding.

7. Brand, employees and customers as the new currency.

8. How his company now views the Managed Service Provider model.

9. How he continues to recruit great talent.

10. Two books by Verne Harnish he recommends to partners looking to grow and transforming their businesses -Mastering the Rockefeller Habits and Scaling Up.

You can listen to the podcast here or on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Player FM, other Android podcast players.

As with each of my interview and articles, I appreciate your feedback. You can reach me on Linked In or on email at [email protected]. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the ratings link. This helps others find the podcast.

In this episode we peel back on the Worldwide Partner Transformation going on at Microsoft and the One Commercial Partner or OCP organization that is driving much of it with Toby Richards, the General Manager of Partner Programs at Microsoft.

Toby and his team are responsible for partner programs worldwide at Microsoft including the Microsoft Partner Network program, the CSP - Cloud Solution Provider partner experience, community engagement and the Microsoft Inspire partner conference. In our discussion we focus on how his team is supporting and leading this worldwide partner transformation, what programs are getting the most attention and what has changed.

Toby has spent over 25 years in the technology industry, holding several leadership roles within Microsoft including Customer & Partner Experience, and most recently, Partner Support within the company’s WW Services organization. In our discussion we also discuss his career journey.

In this episode you will learn:

* What programs are getting the most of his attention during the worldwide partner transformation.

* How he is thinking about the startup community and early stage partners with IP.

* The new Microsoft Partner Community Portal and plans to expand the content to drive greater collaboration.

* His experience in the Customer and Partner Experience Organization and how he has applied his perspective on the change and transformation with an emphasis on customer success.

* The Modern Partner Series and its four attributes: 1. Differentiate to Stand Out, 2. Optimize your Operations, 3. Modernizing Sales and Marketing and 4. Focus on Customer Lifetime Value.

* The greatest challenges he sees with partners transforming and making the shift to the new model.

* Why it’s important to follow the incentives.

* What he believes makes a great partner

* The IDC Study on Partner Profitability.

* His professional journey and why the voice of customer always wins.

You can listen to the podcast here. As with each of my interview and articles, I appreciate your feedback. You can reach me on Linked In or on email at [email protected]. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the ratings link. This helps others find the podcast.

I hope you enjoy this episode!

Vince Menzione

I'm delighted to welcome a thought leader, sales strategist, growth adviser and change agent to Ultimate Guide to Partnering, Tiffani Bova.

Tiffani is the Global, Customer Growth, Sales and Innovation Evangelist at Salesforce. Her focus is to help drive customer success within their vast customer and partner ecosystem, helping companies re-imagine how they can not only grow bigger but grow better with innovative business models and technology.

Bova has earned accolades from the best leaders in the technology world like HP, IBM, Amazon, Oracle, SAP, Oracle, Cisco, and Microsoft. They praise her for cutting-edge analysis and her skill at inventing bold strategies for growth. "Tiffani is one of the most knowledgeable analysts in the industry when it comes to understanding channel, customer and tech trends." "She's the only one who speaks to the real world we all live in – recognizing our need to preserve the existing revenue stream while simultaneously developing a whole new approach." "Her ability to see clearly several steps ahead and uncover practical solutions to shortcomings and challenges is a true asset."

Prior to working with Salesforce she was a VP, Distinguished Analyst and Research Fellow at Gartner. Bova has also lived in the fast lane of high tech, leading sales organizations, driving growth and creating durable competitive advantages at Sprint, Inacom, Interland (web.com) and Gateway Computers. She learned how to lead sales and marketing teams in hotly competitive markets. She created some of the first cloud based channel programs and completely reinvented "go-to-market" tactics in several hardware and services businesses. And she developed her unique ability to connect with executives and employees at every level.

Tiffany and I have an extensive and rich conversation. In this episode you will learn:

* Why she decided to host her own podcast “What’s Next” to share the conversations with thought leaders on business transformation. Listen here: http://whatsnextpodcast.libsyn.com/website.

Partner transformation and the pace of change that she has observed over a span of several years. And that speed of business is the new currency.

Disruption of existing models and why monetization is really tough for smaller organizations.

Why it’s hard for both the vendor and partner to shift.

* What is the right pace of change for IT channel partners.

* Trends she sees in the marketplace.

* Advice she gives organizations looking to transformation.

* Why "Customer Experience is the new battleground".

When a business coach or advisor can help your small business through transformation.

Her mentors, career advice, lessons learned and other nuggets from her career journey.

You can listen to the podcast and read the transcript of this episode below.

As with each of my interview and articles, I appreciate your feedback. You can reach me on Linked In or on email at [email protected]. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the ratings link. This helps others find the podcast.

I hope you enjoy this episode!

Vince Menzione

Transcript

I'm really excited to have you as a guest on The U...

Welcome to the 31st episode of The Ultimate Guide to Partnering. My guest for this episode of the podcast is Casey Coleman, Senior Vice-President of Global Government Solutions at Salesforce. She is responsible for enterprise positioning and solution strategies for government customers worldwide.

Salesforce was at the forefront of business transformation as one of the first pure cloud companies back in 1999. Casey's career has been at the intersection of both government and industry, having led GSA's transformation as its CIO during the Obama administration. At GSA, Casey chaired the Federal CIO Council’s Cloud First committee that developed the FedRAMP standard for cloud cybersecurity.

Casey holds several honors and awards from various organizations, including the Computerworld Premier 100 Award and the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium Award for Leadership in Innovation. She is a three-time winner of the Federal Computer Week Federal 100 Award.

In this episode, we peel back on Casey's role at Salesforce, Salesforce solutions focused in on the government sector, Salesforce as a company, and the amazing DreamForce event taking place in San Francisco in the coming week.

In this episode you'll learn more about:

* Casey's role leading Government Solutions for Salesforce, one of seven industry markets for the company.

* What she loves about working for Salesforce and the company's four core values - Growth, Innovation, Quality and Trust.

* Why customers choose Salesforce as a platform and vendor.

* What makes a good partner and what challenges she experienced driving change with vendors when at GSA.

* What she thinks are the greatest opportunities for growth in government.

* How she is thinking about her first DreamForce event and keynote.

* A link to Casey's session at the event here:

* Her career journey, advice she received getting started and mentors.

You can listen to the podcast and read the transcript of this episode below.

As with each of my interview and articles, I appreciate your feedback. You can reach me on Linked In or on email at [email protected]. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the ratings link. This helps others find the podcast.

Thank you for following and listening.

I hope you enjoy this episode!

Vince Menzione

Transcript

Vince Menzione:             00:38                  Welcome to the third episode of The Ultimate Guide to partnering my guest for this episode of The podcast is K.C. Coleman senior vice president of global government solutions at sales force sales force has been a pioneer and at the forefront of business transformation and Casey has been at the intersection of both government and industry. Having served as the CIO of GSA during the federal government's push to a cloud first strategy during the Obama administration in this episode we peel back on Casey's role at sales force some of sales forces solutions focused in on the government sector sales force as a compan...

One of the most important and pivotal areas of focus for the company is the the group of Microsoft Strategic Partners with Licensing Solution Competencies.

I've been interviewing partner leaders on how the business is evolving since the formation of the OCP or One Commercial Partner organization and this week's discussion led me to Scott Buth, whose team focuses on supporting some of the largest strategic partners at Microsoft.

During Scott’s nearly 10 years at Microsoft, and 14 years in the Channel, he has held a variety of roles from sales and product management to partner account management across software and hardware.

Now as Director of Partner Development in Microsoft's One Commercial Partner organization, he is responsible for the solution and practice development within Microsoft’s US Licensing Solution Provider (LSP) Partners aligned to Microsoft’s four solution areas – Modern Workplace, Apps & Infrastructure, Data & AI, and Business Applications. .

In our interview you will learn about Scott's role and the mission of his team, what strategic levers he applies to help these partners evolve their practices and where he sees the growth for Microsoft's largest strategic partners.

In addition, you will learn:

* How his organization works across OCP - leveraging resources from Build With, Go-to-Market and Sell With organizations to help partners better align on business planning, strategy and market expansion.

* The infusion of PTS or Partner Technology Strategists and "the swarm" of CSA - Cloud Solution Architects available to partners.

* Challenges partners face during the transformation.

* How partners are developing new revenue models.

* How he sees the business evolving with CSP - Cloud Solution Provider program.

* Qualities he believes important to great partnerships: commitment, transparency and accountability.

* The importance of having a growth mindset and listening.

* His personal and professional journey and business philosophy.

You can listen to the podcast and read the transcript of this episode below.

As with each of my interview and articles, I appreciate your feedback. You can reach me on Linked In or on email at [email protected]. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the ratings link. This helps others find the podcast.

Thank you for following and listening.

I hope you enjoy this episode!

Vince Menzione

Transcript

Vince Menzione:             Welcome to the 30th episode of the Ultimate Guide to Partnering. In this episode, I walk the hallways once again at Microsoft to interview partner leaders during this season of change and transformation. In this episode, we'll peel back on the organization that manages some of Microsoft's most strategic and largest partners. My guest today is Scott Buth, director of partner development in the One Commercial Partner Team. We'll learn about Scott's role and mission, how his team engages with these partners, strategic levers he's applying to help these partners grow, and where he sees the growth.

As with each of my episodes, I appreciate your feedback. With the latest version of iOS, it's easier now than ever to rate and review this episode. You can also email me at [email protected]. Thank you for listening and thank you for supporting the Ultimate Guide to Partne...

Security is a wildly important topic today given the risks and the number of security threats from bad actors and nation states. Security in a cloud-enabled world requires a new approach as organizations transform. Solutions that address multi platform needs are more important now than ever before.

My guest for this podcast episode is Dan Mannion, Vice President of Partners & Technology Alliances for Armor, a Security Platform Company based in Richardson, Texas. In this interview Dan addresses the new realities of security in a cloud-enabled world and how Armor solves for them.

As the First Totally Secure Cloud Company, Armor sets the standard for managed cloud security services – delivering protection, detection and response for data workloads and applications no matter where they’re hosted.

Dan is responsible to all aspects of business alliances with vendors and Armor's reseller channel for this fast growing Cloud Security company. He has been responsible for creating a trusted, predictable indirect sales channel that will soon generate the majority of the revenue for the company and shifting the previous channel business from SMB focused and reactive, to proactive and mid-market/lower enterprise focused.

In this interview you will learn:

* The importance of security in today's heterogeneous, multi cloud platform IT environment.

* The "Three Types of Threat Actors".

* Armor's Security Platform - Spartan - secures over 1200 customers in 45 countries today.

* The Shared Responsibility Model - accountability when customers move their apps and data to the cloud

* How he balances his business focus across two hyperscaler vendor partners - Microsoft and Amazon Web Services or AWS.

* The three classes of organizations he partners with to sell and deliver his solutions.

* How he enables Armor's partners to successfully identify, qualify and sell.

* Where he sees the growth - Armor Anywhere, international expansion and partner growth.

* What makes a great partner.

* Dan's career journey including career advice and great books he recommends.

You can listen to the podcast and read the transcript of this episode below.

As with each of my interview and articles, I appreciate your feedback. You can reach me on Linked In or on email at [email protected]. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the ratings link. This helps others find the podcast.

Thank you for following and listening.

I hope you enjoy this episode!

Vince Menzione

Transcript

Vince Menzione:             00:36                  Welcome to the twenty ninth episode of The Ultimate Guide to partnering my guest for this episode is Dan Mannion the vice president of partners and technology alliances for armor armor sets the standard for managed cloud security services delivering protection detection and response for data workloads and applications. No matter where they are hosted in this episode Dan talks about the importance of security in today's volatile I.T. environment. The three types of threat actors armor's secure platform and how it secures over 1200 customers in 45 countries today how he thinks about partnerships alliances and channels and how channels will...

In my podcast and recent series - Season of Change and Transformation,  I interview leaders from Microsoft on how the recent reorganization is impacting partner engagement for over 300,000 partners to ensure partners stay in lock step with the technology giant.

In this 28th episode, I visit with William Lewallen who leads the Cloud Solution Provider Program in the United States for an encore episode and update on the program for Microsoft's Fiscal Year 2018.

William was an early guest on Episode 5 of Ultimate Guide to Partnering and as a member of the OCP or One Commercial Partner organization he leads the engagement of over 8000 CSP partners for Microsoft's United States subsidiary.

In this encore episode you will learn:

* Where the CSP Program now sits within OCP - One Commercial Partner Organization.

* His point of view on the energy level in Bellevue and sense of renewed commitment.

* Changes and enhancements to Microsoft's Cloud Solution Provider Program since Episode 5.

* Where he is focused to drive incremental growth for the business.

* Channel incentive levers that favorably support the program.

* Where people can learn more about CSP - HERE

You can listen or read the transcript of this episode below.

As with each of my interview and articles, I appreciate your feedback. You can reach me on Linked In or on email at [email protected]. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the ratings link. This helps others find the podcast.

Thank you for following and listening.

I hope you enjoy this episode!

Vince Menzione

Podcast Transcript

Vince Menzione:             William, welcome to the podcast.

William L.:                        Hey, Vince. Good morning.

Vince Menzione:             It's really great to have you back on this encore episode and update on the business. You were an early interview guest - Episode 5, and given the state of change and transformation, I thought it would be great for our listeners to get this check-in from you on the state of the CSP or Cloud Solution Provider business. So, welcome.

William L.:                        Yeah. Thanks for having me back and congratulations. We're a long way from Episode 5 now, and I've listened to most of them. And I think what you're doing is great and providing a real great set of resources for partners. So, congratulations.

Vince Menzione:             Thank you for that very generous feedback, and for our listeners who didn't tune in to Episode 5, can you take a moment to peel back on your role at Microsoft and the Cloud Solution Provider program in greater detail?

William L.:                        Sure. So, the Cloud Solution Provider program, CSP, is a sales program that allows partners to resell our cloud services alongside their...