10 Channel People Making Waves This Week at Intel, Verizon, More
One of our most-read stories involved criminal behavior.
January 14, 2022
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Sometimes it’s important to speak truth to power. Sanjib Sahoo made this week’s list for calling out the channel community in a first-person editorial he wrote for Channel Futures.
“The traditional way of operating in the IT channel doesn’t work anymore. The mindset of the future requires moving from legacy, manual processes that reduce EBITDA margins and using the full complement of technology platforms that bring efficiency, enhance customer experience and improve margins as well,” Sahoo said.
It’s not about developing another cool app or tool, he wrote. It’s in using tools that bring value creation.
Read more from Sahoo’s article about his vision for the channel.
Gregory Bryant made the week for his long-term dedication to a technology company.
In 30 years, Bryant worked his way up from electrical engineer to leader of Intel’s client computing group. Bryant held various responsibilities at the firm, launching Intel’s vPro and Evo platforms, serving as IT director and leading the Asia Pacific and Japan region. Now he’s leaving the company to take a position elsewhere in the technology industry.
Find out who will be taking over Bryant’s position at Intel.
Twenty years ago, Scott Evars and Brian Miller started Bridgepointe Technologies. What better way to cap off an anniversary than to receive one of the largest private equity investments the IT/telecom advisory channel has seen. Evars and Miller wouldn’t disclose the exact amount, but it’s somewhere over $100 million.
The investment will allow them to fast-track customer adoption and partner recruitment, as well as enhance their offerings for services in key areas like UCaaS, CCaaS, data centers, cloud, SD-WAN and security.
Learn more about the investment firm behind the deal.
Attacks on software called log4j can affect hundreds of millions of computers and devices. It’s a story that Channel Futures has covered for weeks. Also, there is no easy fix to an attack, other than the time-intensive, resource-draining process of patching. However, it’s always a relief when an expert suggests ways to be proactive.
Albert Zhichun Li and Stephanie Simpson provide approaches to this international problem. Every vendor needs to scan their potential java components and offer urgent patches or restrict access to web services. They add that companies need to test and validate that there are no holes in the software before it is pushed to production.
Find out why people are saying VMWare is a natural target for log4j attacks.
Last year, Wendy Taccetta took the helm of Verizon’s channel efforts. In an interview published in December, she gave Channel Futures’ James Anderson her insights into a myriad of initiatives Verizon has adopted. This includes the company’s new unified partner program, where all of Verizon’s channel enablement and operations staff have merged into a single organization.
Here, Taccetta discusses Verizon’s pledge to invest more market development funds into the channel.
In a highly read editorial this week, Dany Bouchedid, founder and CEO of data center infrastructure solutions provider Colotraq, discusses sexual harassment in the channel. The article delves into the issue that much of the harassment women face occurs at industry conferences where men forget the rules of the workplace. The article is a call to action, addressed to men to not only change their behavior but to understand the daily plight women face balancing work and family.
Bouchedid is on Channel Futures’ DE&I Advisory Board and was named to Channel Futures’ inaugural DE&I 101.
Read his editorial.
The most-read story of the week may not be surprising. The CF List: 20 CPaaS Providers You Should Know highlighted the achievements of companies like RingCentral, Vonage and Sinch. However, deciding who made the list wasn’t possible without expert analysis. Raul Castanon is senior research analyst with 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence.
He says the pandemic resulted in total market revenue increasing by 48% in 2020, giving CPaaS more visibility across the entire value chain.
Michael Brandenburg is industry analyst at Frost and Sullivan. He says companies think more strategically when they start finding ways channels fit into the omnichannel.
“How do we use our telephone numbers as business assets and how do we assign CPaaS functions to our business numbers? There’s not one true fit,” he said.
The most-read story of the week may not be surprising. The CF List: 20 CPaaS Providers You Should Know highlighted the achievements of companies like RingCentral, Vonage and Sinch. However, deciding who made the list wasn’t possible without expert analysis. Raul Castanon is senior research analyst with 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence.
He says the pandemic resulted in total market revenue increasing by 48% in 2020, giving CPaaS more visibility across the entire value chain.
Michael Brandenburg is industry analyst at Frost and Sullivan. He says companies think more strategically when they start finding ways channels fit into the omnichannel.
“How do we use our telephone numbers as business assets and how do we assign CPaaS functions to our business numbers? There’s not one true fit,” he said.
Sometimes what makes a top story for the Channel Futures’ audience is obvious. A highly anticipated merger or acquisition can get the most reads. Often a channel promotion captures readers’ attention. This week, neither topics did. One of our most read and talked about stories was an editorial discussing sexual harassment in the channel. That’s why we’ve featured Dany Bouchedid, who authored the piece, in this week’s Channel People Making Waves.
Of course, our analytics showed foundational stories making an impact, too. The founders of Bridgepointe Technologies are showcased because the company has received a sizeable investment. It’s part of the trend — private equity is becoming a key player in the channel.
When it comes to cybersecurity, it seems as if each week we publish a story of note. For this week, CF talked to two experts who can keep us on track regarding the log4j attacks. Their expertise provides a sigh of relief for companies trying to get ahead of the attacks.
Whether it’s a discussion with Verizon’s new channel chief or a retirement at a major technology firm, we have it here, the individuals making waves this week in the channel community.
Click on the slideshow above to discover who they are and to see which stories you read the most the week of Jan. 10-14. We count them down from seven to one.
Miss last week’s Channel People Making Waves? Here it is.
Want to contact the author directly about this story? Have ideas for a follow-up article? Email Claudia Adrien or connect with her on LinkedIn. |
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