8x8, CenturyLink Vet to Build Channel Program at Everbridge

Everbridge, which provides critical event management (CEM), has hired Jasmina Muller, previously with 8×8, CenturyLink and Orange Business Services, to build, launch and run its channel program in the United States.

Everbridge already partners with MSPs, OEMs and SIs, and plans to expand its partner and alliance strategy to include channel partners such as master agents in midmarket enterprise. As Everbridge’s vice president of North America channel, Muller will be in charge of this effort.

Everbridge’s Jasmina Muller

Prior to joining Everbridge, Muller was 8×8’s regional vice president of channel for the West, and before that was area vice president of channel for the West at CenturyLink, and global account manager at Orange.

Everbridge is a global software company that provides enterprise software applications that automate and accelerate organizations’ operational response to critical events. Its critical event management platform aggregates and assesses threat data, locates people at risk and responders able to assist, automates the execution of pre-defined communications processes through the secure delivery to more than 100 different communication devices, and tracks progress on executing response plans.

The company’s platform sent more than 2.8 billion messages in 2018 and offers the ability to reach more than 500 million people in more than 200 countries and territories.

Vernon Irvin, Everbridge’s executive vice president and chief revenue officer, tells us Muller has “successful and rich experience in the channel sales arena” most recently from her work at CenturyLink and 8×8. He looks forward to seeing her take Everbridge’s solutions into the enterprise midmarket to “deliver on our mission of keeping people safe and business running.”

“Jasmina is a seasoned veteran in the technology channel area and is poised to jump-start Everbridge’s newest distribution route to market,” he said.

In a Q&A with Channel Futures, Muller talks about why she wanted to join Everbridge and her plans for building its channel program.

Channel Futures: Why did you want to take this role with Everbridge?

Jasmina Muller: I like the mission that they have, which is helping people and their businesses, and critical missions as far as overall keeping people safe and operations running faster. It’s a new software industry for me. I came from UCaaS/CCaaS and this was something that’s intriguing in seeing not just day-to-day IP operations, but … really more on a personal level.

CF: What is Everbridge’s history in terms of working with partners and the channel? And are you going to be building its channel from the ground up?

JM: Yes, that is correct. I’m excited in building the channel program because Everbridge has their VARs, OEMs and MSPs, very strong relationships with them over the years, which I would see as alliances. However, we want to go ahead and expand on the program and go more into the channels, the masters, the subagents and all those, and we have those partnerships with them from my previous history. This is going to be a huge initiative and benefit for the partners because it will be another products portfolio they can add, and go out there and help their existing customers as well as any new ones.

CF: What does Everbridge have to offer channel partners?

JM: Right now, they’ll have their alliances portfolio where they’ll go out and be able to work with larger consultant agents like the Deloittes of the world, but now we’re working into expanding that program and providing products such as mass notification [and] critical event management. We’ve got so many things going on out there in the world, everything from natural disasters to terrorist attacks. This basically provides partners the ability to show their customers that now you can go ahead and keep your employees safe, you can go out there with businesses that need the safety from anything that’s going on out there. We don’t really take a look at that from a software perspective; we look at it more of …

… businesses running faster, but this is in addition to that. This is keeping those employees safe and being able to be that trusted adviser to their existing customer base.

CF: What will be your top priorities in building, launching and running Everbridge’s partner program?

JM: There are a lot of things that we’re going to be working on, and we have a team that’s in place, everything from operations to marketing, to enablement and to engineering. We’re brainstorming what we’re going to put together, which is a huge program, a very competitive program [with] everything from incentives to returns on equity (ROEs), marketing funds, working on making sure that we’re a part of the partners’ events and expanding with them as they’re growing their portfolio. I’m working on bringing on individuals to help me grow from not just the program’s perspective, but an overall enablement perspective. So it’s literally a little bit of everything, and growing and building on a new channel organization.

CF: How will your prior experience with companies like 8×8, CenturyLink and Orange come into play in this new role?

JM: I think the biggest thing is the relationships and the trust that I’ve already built over the years with the partners. It’s an extended family. I’m basically just bringing on something more for their portfolios as well as keeping in touch with what their business initiatives are going to be for 2020 and beyond. Putting together an advisory council is first and foremost for me in making sure that we understand what they want to accomplish and making sure that we’re going to be a good fit for them and their business, and that we can help them grow with this new, additional portfolio.

CF: What sort of timeline are you anticipating for the completion and launch of the partner program?

JM: That’s going to take some time. I’m not saying it’s going to take a year; it’s definitely something that’s already been in the works for the past 30 days now. I’m working with an amazing team here at Everbridge helping me succeed … and what’s most crucial right now is an advisory council where I will be reaching out to some of those masters and saying, “Hey, I’d like you to be part of this council and this is what we’re doing; this is where contributions from those masters is going to be key in making the proper program.” Without them and the partners, I don’t think we would have such a strong program. It’s going to be a lot of insight from them and, of course, with our internal team in collaborating and coming up with a state-of-the-art program that will be competitive and unmatched in the industry.

CF: Have you had a chance to talk to any Everbridge partners? If so, what are they telling you?

JM: I have talked to a few and they’re very excited to see the change. They said to me, “This is great; now we can add something else for our partners to sell,” so they’re excited to see what we’re going to come up with and how we’re going to work together on it.

CF: What do you hope to have accomplished a year from now?

JM: I would hope that coming over to Everbridge, and with Everbridge being one of the most competitive in this industry from a cybersecurity perspective, we’ll have the best channel program for our partners. I would hope that we can accomplish a lot for our partners and know that we are the go-to for the security sector of this software.