Zoom Channel Leader Todd Surdey Hints at Future Partner Growth Strategy
“We’re doing more aggressive things,” he told us.
November 11, 2022
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Zoom
Channel Futures: What do you want partners to come away with in their relationship with Zoom?
Todd Surdey: Without a doubt, the No. 1 thing is I want them to feel is that this is the most exciting place to invest their money and their time. I want them to look at this and walk away saying, “holy cow.” I want them to say that the opportunity for us to be a bigger and even more impactful company means working with Zoom. No. 2, I think it’s all about people. At the end of the day, I think it’s so important that we are genuine, that we’re authentic and that we’re here to really work together. I think any time I meet with somebody, I gauge things in terms of who they are. As you know, trust is obviously a massive currency within the channel. So, the ability to walk away with that—a relationship and a high trust factor— means we’re prepared to handle any ups and downs, together. If they can walk away with those kinds of things, I will have done my job.
As an organization, we really are continuing to mature and evolve on how we centralize and work around our partners. Zoom Up is a program that has just formally been launched. Although it’s been in the initial phase, the feedback has been off-the-charts. The second concern for us is around partner profitability and value exchange. How do we help work together to build each other’s organizations and businesses?
The focus now will be on doing the right thing at that point of the customer. Ensuring their success and how they leverage the platform today and expand on it and the channel will be critical. The third for us is around partner centricity and how we work even tighter or closer between our organizations. When you think about not just the channel organization that I have responsibility over but our direct sellers, and how we go to market, there’s some pretty innovative things we want to do. I’m very excited about that for the future.
CF: Thank you for that overview. If possible, could you elaborate a little bit about the new programs Zoom has launched?
TS: We’ve now officially launched Zoom Up and you probably have heard of that. It’s really designed for a few things. One, we want to inspire and attract partners. We want companies of all different types invited to be a part of our channel. Two, we want to know how do partners pick their journey? What journey did they go on with us? You can be a VAR, you can be a TSP, you can be a service provider, you can be a system integrator. However, I think what’s critical is how Zoom provides the right vehicle for them to choose from enablement, others. The levels we offer will help determine and decide in terms of what value are they investing in. What outcomes are we getting together? What reinvestments do we put inside? It also plays straight into the profitability and the portion of the value exchange because we want to reward partners that are doing more with us or investing more with us.
CF: I know that you’ve worked at Google, Palo Alto Networks, SAP, Salesforce, VMware…it’s a long list and I wanted to know how that variety of experience prepared you for your role at Zoom?
TS: For me, I targeted Zoom. I wanted absolutely to be here. I see it as a leader in what they do. Obviously, it’s exciting because of who they are (They’re a verb!).
When you think about my background and where I worked, I had a mixture of both direct sales and channel.
CF: What was the channel program like before you began your position at Zoom and how are you evolving it?
TS: So, I’ve been at Zoom for 90 days and I’m still largely on my listening tour. I think it’s always super important for you to come in and really understand what’s working. There’s a people element to it. There’s a process element to it. And then there’s what are we doing today to reset in terms of what’s the new strategy moving forward. I’ve come in at such an amazing time because I’m getting to see in terms of the back half of the year for Zoom. And being a part of the channel, it’s allowing me to set up appropriately for FY 2024. These are all things that I’ve been working through.
I’m really focused on what are the right priorities for us, and where are the right partners for us? Where do we put our focus on our investments? And the one thing I can say is it’s an evolution. It’s always with any program in any organization you step into. With Zoom, I was blown away coming in, between my predecessor and the leadership team here, and both on the channel side and extended leaders. It really gives me a platform, and us the platform, to do so much more with our partners. So, my focus will be around three things as we walk into next year. No. 1 is ease of doing business. Are we delivering on what we’re saying? I think it is so important to get there and make sure that the little things matter when you’re delivering on simplicity of doing business. No.2 is our set of products. The platform is off-the-charts. We want the ability to make sure we get it into our partners hands quickly and guarantee we have the right enablement and that we have the right resources to support that. And No.3, we have an amazing opportunity, especially when you think of the continued evolution of our direct sales teams and our partners working together.
CF: Zoom achieved immense success during the first two years of the pandemic. And the company saw a rise in sales of more than 40% between 2020 and 2021. Why was Zoom able to “capitalize” on the period where everyone was at home or working remotely? There were other UCaaS products on the market.
TS: Of course, I wasn’t here during that time. I can only tell you what I have experienced being inside the company that far, and how it’s run. I don’t believe they were just in the right place at the right time. Based on what I’ve seen over the last 90 days, I believe what they’ve done from the CEO on down is really focus on the values of happiness. It’s really important when we think about what was going on in the world during that period and how we approached the set of customers across the board. I think it was a better product and just easy to use. In fact, I sat in on an executive meeting for a large partner and customer that came in from Germany. And the first thing that came out of their mouths was that this was just easy, and it worked. And that was amazing for them. And so, it allowed them to really lift right out the technology in a way that wasn’t technology. It was like walking into a room and turning a light on. It was that easy.
CF: Microsoft, Cisco and Google, among others, have made advancements to their UCaaS/CCaaS technologies. How can Zoom stay more relevant and ahead of the curve as competition increases? And is there a role for channel partners to play in that equation?
TS: As I talked about earlier, we have much higher contributions from the channel. Also, our contact center, Zoom Phone, whiteboarding offer next level opportunities for our channel and for our business to really touch into that hybrid world.
If you back up for a second, think of the world prior to the pandemic. We were largely all in our office and working …stay with me here. That wasn’t an interesting world. But then we went to staying at home. Now, with the hybrid experience, I think we’re living in much more complex ways. Choice is created by the hybrid world and I truly believe Zoom is the only one that can accommodate all of that. From start to finish.
CF: Microsoft, Cisco and Google, among others, have made advancements to their UCaaS/CCaaS technologies. How can Zoom stay more relevant and ahead of the curve as competition increases? And is there a role for channel partners to play in that equation?
TS: As I talked about earlier, we have much higher contributions from the channel. Also, our contact center, Zoom Phone, whiteboarding offer next level opportunities for our channel and for our business to really touch into that hybrid world.
If you back up for a second, think of the world prior to the pandemic. We were largely all in our office and working …stay with me here. That wasn’t an interesting world. But then we went to staying at home. Now, with the hybrid experience, I think we’re living in much more complex ways. Choice is created by the hybrid world and I truly believe Zoom is the only one that can accommodate all of that. From start to finish.
Channel Futures sat down with Todd Surdey, Zoom head of global channel and business development, to discuss his vision for the role. He spoke with us prior to Zoomtopia, the pinnacle Zoom-powered conference, which initially took place earlier this week in San Jose, California, and virtually. The event culminates Nov. 17.
Zoom’s Todd Surdey
On one hand, cultivating a channel vision is a big task for Surdey, who has only been in the channel leader role for three months. He’s still getting a feel for both the job and the Zoom channel community, he said. On the other hand, shaping a path for partners is part of Surdey’s repertoire. He comes to Zoom with a wealth of experience, both in indirect and direct sales. His resume is extensive, having worked in leadership roles at Google, Palo Alto Networks, SAP, Salesforce and VMware, to name a few.
Partner Reach
So what partner environment has Surdey walked into at the communications company? Here are some stats:
Zoom’s channel is now contributing 30% to non-online bookings globally, a 50% increase in just 12 months and over 32% to Zoom Phone.
The company is expanding its global partner and customer reach by onboarding notable distributors, including First Distribution (Africa), DMOA (Korea), Redington MENA and TD Synnex (Europe).
Zoom Phone coverage with partners continues to grow across geographies with the expansion of the Cloud Peering Program, and with Zoom Phone Native becoming available through more Zoom resellers around the globe.
Over 19,000 individuals have already earned accreditations through the Zoom Up partner program this year alone.
If past is prologue, Surdey sums things up.
“We’re doing more aggressive things,” he told us.
In the slideshow above, find out more from our interview with Surdey and what he plans to do next for channel partners.
(Note: The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.)
Want to contact the author directly about this story? Have ideas for a follow-up article? Email Claudia Adrien or connect with her on LinkedIn. |
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