Image Gallery: PlanetOne Tech Tour -- Newport Beach

Image Gallery: PlanetOne Tech Tour — Newport Beach

Software-defined networking (SDN) has more buzz in the channel these days than any other technology. But it’s much more than just hype.

That’s why PlanetOne Communications made it the focus of its Tech Tour stop in Newport Beach, California, March 8-9.

The master agent put together a panel of experts – top execs from Verizon, Aryaka, Masergy and Nitel – and welcomed more than 100 of its Southern California-based partners not only to hear some important sales tips, but to do so in a spectacular location — the Resort at Pelican Hill, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean.

Channel Partners was there. Take a stroll through our image gallery for highlights and recap. We’re sure you’ll see someone you know.

Looking for more? Read our news story on the SD-WAN panel.

Follow executive editor @Craig_Galbraith on Twitter.

PlanetOne Tech Tour: Welcome Reception

The event kicked off with a welcome reception on March 8 at the Silver Trumpet restaurant inside the Avenue of the Arts hotel in Costa Mesa, California. Guests than split up for dinner.

PlanetOne Tech Tour: Networking

Attendees gathered the morning of March 9 outside the ballroom at the Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, California. They got a chance to meet with representatives of some of PlanetOne’s key vendor partners.

PlanetOne Tech Tour: Resort at Pelican Hill

A picture can’t do this view justice. But Oceanside golf would have to wait until the afternoon.

PlanetOne Tech Tour: SD-WAN Panel

The meat of the event centered around software-defined wide-area networking (SD-WAN).

A panel of experts on the topic included (left to right): Aryaka’s Jim Hilbert; Verizon’s Janet Schijns; Masergy’s Chris MacFarland; and Nitel’s Ron Grason.

The overall message: There’s no better opportunity than now for the channel community to get on board. Benefits of SD-WAN are numerous: improved application performance; greater flexibility and efficiency; ease of provisioning and network management; and detailed analytics, just to name a few.

Some sales tips from the panel to keep in mind:

Grason: “SD-WAN improves performance around the WAN; therefore, applications run better and ultimately employees are more productive. Partners who focus on business outcomes will be the ones who succeed.”

Schijns: “There was a lot of marketing fog around cloud. All these words you’re hearing (SDN, SD-WAN) — it’s the same thing. There are a million people coming into the market. There is a massive consolidation happening in the marketplace, so we better all be careful about who we partner with.”

Hilbert: “What we see now is with the big enterprises, we’re replacing [several] hundred MPLS sites globally. If you have an organization that’s very cloud-focused … we’re seeing traction for replacing MPLS. There are still great use cases of MPLS, but we’re going to see this SD-WAN really evolve.”

MacFarland: “The ability for us to adapt at a relatively rapid pace will be critical. The ability to drive incremental automation and intelligence — these things are going to continue to accelerate. It’s hard now to figure out who [are] going to be winners and losers, but thought leaders with platforms that are agile [will be in the best position.]”

PlanetOne Tech Tour: CEO Ted Schuman

PlanetOne CEO Ted Schuman lobbied questions at the panel.

PlanetOne Tech Tour: Sales VP Jonathan Hartman

Jonathan Hartman, PlanetOne VP of sales, told the audience that 30 percent of enterprises will have adopted SD-WAN in some capacity by the year 2019. He encouraged partners to be very prepared when they have that conversation with customers.

“[The industry] has slow-rolled into a lot of other technologies, but this one hit us hard and fast. It’s hard to make sense of all this,” noted Jonathan Hartman, PlanetOne VP of sales. “If this is overwhelming to us, our customers are experiencing this and more.”

PlanetOne Tech Tour: Verizon-XO

Here, the team from Verizon gets together with colleagues from the newly acquired XO Communications, gathering in front of a picturesque landscape. They now form the new Verizon Business Markets.

(left to right): Bill Hooper, managing director; Michelle Roos Raedel, senior manager – Managed Services Product Management; Alethea Peyrin, director, Partner Channel; Janet Schijns, VP – Verizon Solutions and Sales Channels; and David Longo, senior manager – Global Channels.

PlanetOne Tech Tour: TelePacific

That’s PlanetOne CEO Ted Schuman (right) posing with TelePacific CEO Dick Jalkut.

PlanetOne Tech Tour: Nitel

Here’s Schuman with Nitel’s Ron Grason.

PlanetOne Tech Tour: Fore!

OK, finally time to hit the links. It was an absolutely perfect day for PlanetOne Tech Tour attendees to get in a round on what the resort describes as “a two-course feast to make you feel as if golf is your sole reason for being.”

Image Gallery: PlanetOne Tech Tour — Newport Beach

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