Channel Futures’ 2021 Circle of Excellence Announced
The 17 industry executives were selected for their unsurpassed dedication and exemplary contributions to the channel.
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This is John DeLozier’s fourth appearance in the Circle of Excellence, but his first as president of Intelisys, which he described to Channel Futures as his “dream job.” He moved to Intelisys from 8×8 in August 2021.
DeLozier has promised he will revamp Intelisys’ loyalty program and institute a flexible approach to different partner types. And what he says he’ll do, he does — and does well. You could say he’s a channel rock star. During his more than 20 years in channel-centric roles, DeLozier has been honored repeatedly as a CRN Channel Chief (to date, five years running), was one of Channel Partners’ first Channel Influencer designee and in 2020 was named Channel Influencer of the Year.
In talking with Channel Futures about his move to Intelisys, DeLozier said, “This is my dream job. And it’s not short-term. It’s anything but, and I cannot wait to connect with all of our partners out there — hopefully live but also virtually — and get to know them better and continue to bring to market technology orchestration delivered. It’s going to be pretty awesome. I’m looking forward to it.”
Last year, Jim Glackin was focused on expanding Masergy’s channel and reinvigorating the program. The senior vice president of global channels’ efforts succeeded in producing growth of more than 50% in deal value in the funnel and 25% growth of partners adding opportunities to the funnel.
Glackin thinks next year will be a good one for the channel. “Businesses continue to shift more of their workloads and technologies to the cloud and/or managed solution,” he said.
“Business leaders do not want to own, run, and manage technology. They only want to consume technology and focus on their core business. Understanding which workloads and which technologies are right for outsourcing, identifying the right vendor and then designing a migration strategy is where the channel will play a significant role. “
A licensed pilot, Glackin volunteers for pilotsnpaws.org, flying rescue dogs and cats that need transportation.
A member of 8×8’s channel team since 2018, Bobby Hall stepped into the role of channel chief after John DeLozier’s departure in August. Before joining 8×8, he held positions at CenturyLink, Unify, Arrow, ShoreTel, Avaya and ATT. His two decades of channel experience are helping him accelerate business growth through 8×8’s channel partner program.
“Bobby is a proven performer who uses his natural ability to forge extremely solid relationships with business associates both internally and externally,” said Michael Cibelli, 8×8’x vice president of channels, North America. “
“Bobby quickly assimilated into the role of channel development and produced record numbers in terms of recruitment. He then went on to manage one of our largest partners to record growth. A lead-off hitter in every sense of the word. Definitely a top pick in starting a team.”
Will Harvey has served as vice president of AT&T Alliance Channel since March 2020. Before that, he served as AT&T’s vice president of network integration. He led the network integration team, which included more than 800 employees and $2 billion in revenue responsibility. Prior to that, he established and developed AT&T’s managed application and hosting business that was acquired by IBM in 2015.
A veteran of nearly 30 years with AT&T, Harvey is a recognized solution innovator and leader. He has been instrumental in opening up new opportunities for AT&T by accelerating and extending the company’s portfolio to meet customer challenges and interests.
Known for his key business sense and technical knowledge, Harvey has held positions in AT&T in sales, sales engineering/support, systems architecture and development management, network planning and engineering, operations and product management. In his first position with AT&T, that of a product developer, he was granted four U.S. patents.
As senior vice president for VMware’s Worldwide Partner and Commercial organization, Sandy Hogan is responsible for driving the company’s worldwide commercial strategic plan and revenue attainment, as well as leading the go-to-market strategy with their global partner and distribution network.
Hogan joined VMware from Rackspace where she served as executive vice president and general manager for the Americas region and as senior vice president and general manager for the Americas region with HERE Technologies.
Before that, Hogan spent 15 years with Cisco Systems in a variety of go-to-market and transformation roles, helping customers improve their business outcomes. In her role as global vice president, Digital Transformation Group, she led the company’s outcome-selling model, IoT go-to-market strategy and next-gen partner ecosystem.
Hogan has led a number of outcome-based, go-to-market models that have transformed how organizations sell and partner, deliver customer value, achieve above-market growth and scale.
Danny Jenkins is the co-founder and CEO of ThreatLocker, an Orlando-based cybersecurity firm that provides zero-trust endpoint security. An expert in cybersecurity, he has spent more than two decades building and securing corporate networks.
Dedicated to educating industry professionals about ever-changing cyber threats, Jenkins frequently speaks on the topics of ransomware, zero trust, and zero-day vulnerabilities. Prior to ThreatLocker, he co-founded MXSweep, a Dublin-based global provider of email and internet security SaaS applications sold exclusively through the channel. MXSweep was later sold to J2. He was also the CEO at Sirrustec, which specialized in white-labeled, channel delivered email security. That company was sold to Censornet in 2014.
A threepeat in the Circle of Excellence, Zane Long is senior vice president of global channel sales for RingCentral. He has grown the company’s Global Channel Partner division into an organization that generates more than $500 million annually.
With more than 20 years of experience in channel leadership and management experience, Long was responsible for the creation of Channel Harmony, RingCentral’s partner program. He is known for an enthusiastic and collaborative approach that sparks his team’s success.
Prior to joining RingCentral in 2016, Long held senior roles at Vonage, Cbeyond, Genband and Level 3.
Jonathan McCormick is the COO and CRO for Intermedia Cloud Communications, a partner-first company. Recognizing the strain that the pandemic was putting on his team as well as their clients, he made a point of emphasizing compassion, empathy and helping others. As a result, partners were able to find success despite the demanding circumstances.
McCormick predicts that in the coming year, partners will be kept busy helping clients make it possible for employees to work remotely.
“One of the things this pandemic has taught us is that businesses can continue to operate and thrive with employees working from wherever as long as they have the tools that allow them to do so,” he said. “Many organizations have said that post pandemic they envision more of their employees working remotely more frequently, so the need for solutions such as UCaaS and CCaaS that promote communication and collaboration from wherever will continue to be highly sought after.”
Rob Merhej joined Avant Communications in 2016 as senior channel manager of the U.K. He launched Avant’s presence in the U.K. and has been instrumental in the success the company has realized overseas. In January 2021 he was promoted to regional vice president for the U.K. and EMEA.
Coming from a background helping predominantly U.S. technology companies expand into EMEA, Merhej is responsible for local sales and developing a channel for various vendors new to EMEA. He has built his team to help grow Avant’s existing partnerships, as well as forge new ones across the U.K. and EMEA.
Maintaining partner engagement during COVID was a major challenge for Telarus COO Richard Murray, and one that he handled well. The company introduced “Race to the Summit” partner event that created a massive differentiator for events, education and partner engagement.
“Moving to all-digital events required a business case for creative talent, equipment and space,” he said. “Pulling that together on a short time frame was a triumph for our team and garnered incredible engagement and feedback from partners and suppliers.”
Murray sees the year ahead as one of “fast, fierce growth” for the channel. “The convergence of products and services has created an unprecedented opportunity for the channel as new services, suppliers and partners enter the market.”
Dan Pirigyi is a partner at Telecom Consulting Group (TCG), a technology distributor that represents more than 220 carriers and has nearly 6,000 independent sales agents. Pirigyi has spent nearly 25 years in the telecom channel, 10 of them with TCG.
Before joining TCG, Pirigyi spent nearly 10 years with TCEG.net, a telecom consulting business. He also held positions with Business Telecom Inc. and Teleglobe Business Solutions.
Described by one client as “100% focused on serving his customers,” Pirigyi is passionate about his company’s partners and their success.
Michelle Ragusa-McBain can best be described as a force of nature. The global lead and channel evangelist for MSP and XaaS at Cisco is a highly visible thought leader in the global technology channel.
Ragusa-McBain started her tech career at Cisco, through their Global Academy. She became a certified Cisco Engineer and spent 13 years with the company before taking a brief detour to first direct channel sales and marketing for Office Depot, then to serve as vice president of global channel and digital strategy for JS Group. She returned to Cisco in June 2021.
A passionate advocate of diversity, equity and inclusion, Ragusa-McBain co-founded Tech World’s Half, a nonprofit dedicated to encouraging and keeping women — half of the total workforce — in the technology industry. She serves as chair emeritus of Advancing Women in Technology for CompTIA and is a longstanding member of the national Women in Technology group. Ragusa-McBain is one of the inaugural members of the Channel Futures DE&I 101.
As channel chief for Vonage, Jim Regan maintains the mindset that the company isn’t just selling products and services, it’s empowering partners and customers to stay ahead of what’s next. Under Regan’s direction, the company is introducing new and improved partner capabilities to drive their continued success.
“We listened to partner feedback and enhanced our channel partner program and partner experience portal, doubling down on our commitment to help them succeed by continuing to invest in our channel model, tools and infrastructure to support our partners in key markets and make it even easier for them to do business with us,” he said.
Looking ahead, Regan thinks that as businesses become more technology dependent, they will look to the channel even more for its expertise. “I believe we’re going to see the critical technology decisions of businesses everywhere continue to be placed in the trusted hands of their technology partners,” he said.
“I can’t think of a more exciting time in our industry.”
Longtime Comcast Business channel chief Craig Schlagbaum is no stranger to awards in this business. In fact, this is his fifth appearance in our Circle of Excellence since its inception in 2014.
What he told us in a 2019 interview about his career still rings true for this channel veteran and the continued growth of the Comcast Business Solutions Provider Program:
“The real highlight for me has been building our multimillion-dollar, award-winning channel program from the ground up,” he told us. “… Further, it is helping mentor, grow and develop my team as leaders.”
Patricia Watkins was named vice president of channel and IoT sales for T-Mobile in February 2021. She came to T-Mobile after spending 14 years with Sprint, which T-Mobile acquired in April 2020.
At the time of her appointment, Watkins told Channel Futures, “What I’m really looking to do is to make this more of a collaborative effort between the partner channel and our direct team.” There had been problems with friction between T-Mobile’s direct and indirect sales teams.
Watkins also wants to drive more and better communications with the partner community. “We’re going to spend a lot more time with [partners], hearing from them,” she said. “What’s working? What’s not working? And once we have that communication, we’re going to act fairly quickly on that.”
As senior vice president of marketing for WatchGuard, Michelle Welch is responsible for the development, execution and organization of the company’s global marketing strategy. She joined WatchGuard in 2015 after spending nearly a decade with SafeNet. During her time there, she transformed the company’s branding as a leader in data protection, built a strong interactive marketing platform and was key to centralizing the company’s aggressive channel marketing strategy and empowering partners. She also helped position the company for its $890 million acquisition by Gemalto.
Dave Young was named to the newly created role of senior vice president of strategic sales for Lumen in August 2021. He previously had been Lumen’s senior vice president of public sector and global hyperscale business. In his new role, Young oversees Lumen’s indirect team as well as its system integrator, hyperscaler and digital ventures groups.
Young has more than 30 years of experience in the technology and telecom sector playing a key role landing significant business that increases customer relationships and marketable solutions. He is deeply respected in the industry.
Dave Young was named to the newly created role of senior vice president of strategic sales for Lumen in August 2021. He previously had been Lumen’s senior vice president of public sector and global hyperscale business. In his new role, Young oversees Lumen’s indirect team as well as its system integrator, hyperscaler and digital ventures groups.
Young has more than 30 years of experience in the technology and telecom sector playing a key role landing significant business that increases customer relationships and marketable solutions. He is deeply respected in the industry.
The Circle of Excellence was created in 2014 to recognize ICT leaders who are helping create business value for customers. In 2020, channel executives were faced with the additional challenge of helping the indirect channel and their clients not only survive but thrive during the pandemic. The 2021 Circle of Excellence inductees rose to that challenge in myriad ways.
This year’s list contains three familiar faces and several others that, although familiar to the industry, are making their debut in the Circle of Excellence.
Scroll through the gallery above to meet this year’s inductees (in alphabetical order). They come from all corners of the industry.
We will honor them all during a special dinner at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo, Nov. 1-4. It’s not too late to register for the world’s largest independent channel event!
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