Pax8 Vendor Experience VP: MSPs Not Prepared for SMBs

Pax8's newly appointed VP of vendor experience believes that MSPs aren't prepared to handle small businesses' needs.

Pax8 announced the newly appointed VP, Oguo Atuanya, on Monday as the new executive leading Pax8's vendor experience. Atuanya brings more than 16 years of working at Microsoft to his new role at Pax8 and seems intent on focusing on how the channel can better serve small and medium businesses.

Channel Futures got a chance to sit down with Atuanya and discuss his view of the channel, his plans for Pax8 and more.

Pax8's Oguo Atuanya

Channel Futures: What led you to join Pax8?

Oguo Atuanya: I've always admired Pax8 from afar, as far back as when Pax8 sat under my organization. If there are three things I can anchor my interest in the company to, [first] would be its unique position in the industry as the market leader and the pioneer of this whole marketplace concept. The way it really gets into understanding the SMB market space, the way it understands and enables MSPs, and the great relationships that the company has with its vendors really position Pax8 as a differentiator in terms of enabling MSPs to get to SMBs and serve them very well.

The second thing is just the innovation and the way they think, the way they execute, how meticulous they are at really thinking beyond what's in front of us today. And then lastly, for me, probably the most important, the people and the culture. I've gotten to know a few people within Pax8 over the past few months, and I just felt a ton of energy from the people, [seen what] positivity can do, attitude, the culture of inclusion, the culture of making sure that people are comfortable when they come to work. And essentially, I call it just pinning their ears back and going out where they need to go without worrying about any other noise you may see in some other organizations.

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CF: What were the biggest challenges you faced dealing with partners as a Microsoft executive, and how do you think those struggles will affect your new role at Pax8?

OA: The one unique challenge every one of our partners has is the very limited ability to put their arms around the [small and medium business] space. The SMB time is getting bigger. As sophisticated as most of these vendors are, they're always pretty good at serving the enterprise because they serve the enterprise directly. Putting their arms around SMB has been a common problem, and when I think about that understanding and the understanding that Pax8 brings to the space, it just positions me uniquely having seen both sides. There's also that track record of growing or leading growth businesses that I've been involved in. I am very, very comfortable in environments that are high growth.

CF: What changes do you have planned for Pax8's vendor experience?

OA: We've got the core ingredients in the technology within Pax8. It's all about scaling across the number of vendors we engage and proliferating the platform through MSPs into SMB ... You're going to have to shift into a different pace. As you know, the company goes from where it is today to where it wants to be.

CF: What should partners expect looking forward?

OA: I think MSP partners should expect us to deliver that very sophisticated platform ... I should expect us to go with that platform that will enable them to serve their their SMBs with great efficiency. We're helping them reduce added costs, eliminate risks, and then helping them drive growth within that SMB segment. I mentioned how big segments get, so SMB should expect that sort of care from their MSPs. And MSPs should expect to enable them to achieve those.

CF: What are some of the biggest opportunities that face channel leaders in 2024?

OA: I'm looking at that growing SMB space as a channel leader. And I'm looking at the inability to understand and fully manage smaller companies. Many MSPs understand SMBs, but they may lack the experience of managing that sort of business in an in-depth fashion. So it's no longer just delivering licenses only for them not to be used. It's applying that deep management and ensuring that customers understand what they've bought and the value associated with it.

So, for instance, if you buy several products that you're using, or services that you're using within that suite, make sure you're just not turning on one service and not using the other seven or eight, because then you don't reduce, you don't understand the value. That's how you get churn, and churn is bad for everyone, right? So it is critical for that understanding to be incorporated with the MSPs so that they can deliver better outcomes for the SMB.