The VAR Guy's Top 50 Channel Influencers List, 2015: 21-30
Welcome to The VAR Guy's Top 50 Channel Influencers list. Here you'll find honorees 21-30.
April 6, 2015
Name: Terry Hedden
Title/Company: CEO, Marketopia and Cloud Guru
Why He Made the List: Terry founded and sold one of the largest MSPs in the world then became a professional speaker and consultant. He speaks at more than 50 events per year and reaches thousands of VARs and MSPs. He is paid to speak on topics ranging from cloud and managed IT services to sales and marketing best practices. His largest clients include CompTIA, Tech Data, AVG, Adobe and IBM. Hedden also consults with firms on topics related to cloud computing, managed IT services and entrepreneurship, and is a frequent contributor to Talkin’ Cloud’s IdeaXchange.
Social Handles:
Twitter: @thedden03
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/terryhedden
Name: Jeanne Hopkins
Title/Company: Senior Vice President and CMO, Continuum Managed IT Services
Why She Made the List: Hopkins joined Continuum in September 2013, and has since built a metrics-based sales and marketing team that drives quality leads and revenue for MSP partners. She launched the company’s first Navigate user conference, with more than 400 attending the sold-out event in September 2014, and Collaborate, a private forum for partners to freely connect and share. Hopkins also launched the MSP Resource Center, an online library of eBooks, case studies, white papers and webinars. She’s also the brains behind MSPradio, Continuum’s weekly radio program for “on-the-go” MSPs, and a new company blog to spotlight MSP partner successes. Efforts have yielded impressive results: Website organic search visits are up 33 percent year over year and Twitter follower numbers have increased 96 percent year over year. About 700 new partners signed on with Continuum in 2014 and 99 more have joined so far this year. Hopkins was named to the 2014 MSPmentor 250, as well as the list of 50 Most Influential Sales Lead Management professionals by SLMA in 2011-2014 and SLMA’s 20 Women to Watch in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
Social Handles:
Twitter: @jeannehopkins
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jeannehopkins
Name: Jeffrey Kaplan
Title/Company: Managing Director, THINKstrategies Inc.
Why He Made the List: Jeff was one of the first industry consultants to recognize the unique channel challenges and opportunities created by the Cloud. He not only identified these in his writings and advised his clients on how to address them, but he also launched the Cloud Channel Summit in 2011 to encourage executives from the leading cloud providers and channel companies, as well as key industry associations and publications—including CompTIA and The VAR Guy’s sister site Talkin’ Cloud—to share their perspectives and best practices. The annual executive forum has been hosted four times, and Kaplan continues to work with a wide array of clients to promote the success of the cloud ecosystem.
Social Handles:
Twitter: @thinkstrategies
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/jeffrey-kaplan/0/39a/878
Name: Diane Krakora
Title/Company: President, PartnerPath
Why She Made the List: If you’ve signed on to a channel partner program in the last few years, chances are Krakora’s firm had a hand in shaping it. PartnerPath designs, implements and automates channel and alliance models, and counts the likes of Dell, NetApp and SAP among its satisfied customers. Krakora keeps her finger on the pulse of the channel by actively engaging with vendors and partners alike and designing research that goes beyond the obvious to spot industry trends and their impact on the channel at large.
Social Handles:
Twitter: @PartnerPath
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dkrakora/en
Name: Regina Kunkle
Title/Company: Vice President of Americas Channel Sales, NetApp
Why She Made the List: NetApp’s channel business represents more than 80 percent of overall sales, and Kunkle is leading the charge in what is a key part of the company’s growth strategy. She has been recognized for her work in fostering partnerships for NetApp as well as the broader industry. Kunkle is passionate about encouraging women and young girls to enter the math, science and technology fields, and has championed more than a dozen Women in Technology events on college campuses nationwide to educate students on the opportunities available in IT and the channel.
Social Handles:
Twitter: @reginakunkle
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/regina-kunkle/5/b6/9a3
Name: Kendra Lee
Title/Company: President, KLA Group
Why She Made the List: A regular contributor to The VAR Guy, Lee never fails to offer honest and actionable advice on succeeding in IT sales. She specializes in helping companies get more customers through prospect attraction, including lead generation, nurturing, sales prospecting, and sales hiring; small and midmarket (SMB) companies; IT sales new business development; and engaging technical teams in selling, consulting and training. Lee has been named one of the Top 25 Influential Leaders in Sales by OpenView Partners and one of the Top 10 Women in Sales Experts to Follow on Twitter by Sales Gravy. She also serves as faculty chair in Prospecting and Lead Generation for the Sales Training Institute, and is author of the award-winning books, “The Sales Magnet,” and, “Selling Against the Goal.”
Social Handles:
Twitter: @KendraLeeKLA
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kendralee/en
Name: Richard Lewis
Title/Company: Senior Vice President of Channels Sales, Americas, Global Convergence Inc.
Why He Made the List: Lewis restructured GCI’s inside solution sales organization to better support its partner and vendor communities, providing partners with a more hands-on, personalized experience that fostered deeper understanding of and insight into emerging technologies and services to help them expand their portfolio and grow their businesses. GCI invested in infrastructure and staff to better serve customers currently supporting end users on a global scale and those looking to win more international business. In 2014, GCI opened its first European office outside of London, providing in-country support for channel partners, and placed local resources in France to reach that region. GCI is experiencing continued growth, acquiring more than 200 new solution providers in 2014.
Social Handles:
Twitter: @GlobalConverg
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/interlink-communication-systems?trk=top_nav_home
Name: Jim Lippie
Title/Company: Chief Advisor, Clarity Channel Advisors
Why He Made the List: Jim Lippie is the former president and CEO of Thrive Networks, a leading national MSP and the former president of IndependenceIT, a leading software company powering the DaaS market. Today, Jim runs Clarity Channel Advisors, where he is leveraging his experience to help service providers around the country develop successful cloud strategies. Jim has developed a free application, CloudClarityScore.com, for service providers looking to identify cloud desktop deals. He is also a frequent speaker at industry shows and writes blogs for Continuum and The VAR Guy’s sister sites Talkin’ Cloud and MSPmentor.
Social Handles:
Twitter: @jlippie
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/jim-lippie/0/31/529/en
Name: David Maffei
Title/Company: Vice President of Global Channel Sales, Carbonite
Why He Made the List: Shifting an organization’s business model is never easy, but Maffei has never been one to back down from a challenge. Maffei was challenged with taking Carbonite, a well-known and trusted consumer brand sold through direct channels and transitioning it into a channel-friendly company that can serve the unique needs of the SMB. Carbonite fully established itself as a household name in the channel in 2014, and Maffei was the chief architect. By forging strategic alliances with leading global distributors and direct market resellers, as well as VARs and MSPs, Maffei increased Carbonite’s active partners by 36 percent to more than 5,800 in 2014. Carbonite also surpassed 75,000 SMB customers in 2014, an achievement driven largely by its growing reach in the SMB IT channel.
Social Handles:
Twitter: @BostonMaff
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/davidmaffei/en
Name: Heather Margolis
Title/Company: Founder, Channel Maven Consulting
Why She Made the List: Margolis is the go-to strategist for social media in the channel and remains influential in her ability to train and teach both vendors and partners on social media in ways that consistently improve their marketing efforts. She has led channel programs for companies including EMC, EqualLogic and Dell. Today, her firm helps channel organizations build smarter channel programs, manage channel relationships to find added value, and engage their communities through social and traditional media. Margolis frequently shares her expertise through her blogs on The VAR Guy.
Social Handles:
Twitter: @HeatherMargolis
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/heatherkmargolis/en
Name: Heather Margolis
Title/Company: Founder, Channel Maven Consulting
Why She Made the List: Margolis is the go-to strategist for social media in the channel and remains influential in her ability to train and teach both vendors and partners on social media in ways that consistently improve their marketing efforts. She has led channel programs for companies including EMC, EqualLogic and Dell. Today, her firm helps channel organizations build smarter channel programs, manage channel relationships to find added value, and engage their communities through social and traditional media. Margolis frequently shares her expertise through her blogs on The VAR Guy.
Social Handles:
Twitter: @HeatherMargolis
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/heatherkmargolis/en
Welcome to The VAR Guy's Top 50 Channel Influencers list. Here you'll find honorees 21-30.
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