7 Channel People Making Waves This Week at Cisco, T-Mobile, Google Cloud, More
The Kaseya-Datto deal received much criticism from partners.
April 22, 2022
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Nina Harding is chief of global partner strategy and programs at Google Cloud. She made waves this week for her part in unveiling Google Cloud’s nine “consumption packs” specific to Deal Acceleration Funds and Partner Services Funds. These help channel partners get clients into the cloud — faster.
“Demand from organizations for cloud transformation is soaring,” Harding told Channel Futures. “And these consumption packs will help our partners more quickly and effectively support these customers and simplify their cloud journeys.”
What is the significance of Google Cloud’s consumption packs? Find out more here.
This week we featured 12 key partner trends from Cisco channel leaders.
Andrew Sage, vice president of global distribution sales, spoke about Cisco’s growth in the SMB segment, where partners are playing a critical role. He also shared Cisco’s recent initiatives to reward partners and their customers for sustainable practices.
But maybe more importantly, Sage made waves for his direct answer regarding marketplaces.
“We’re trying every new way that our customers are asking us to buy, and then we’re going to double down on the ones that are working right now,” he said. “The idea that we would get to millions of these customers somehow by putting up a clever website and selling direct to them is absolutely never going to happen. And everybody at Cisco knows that,” he said.
Read more to find out the other partner trends highlighted by Cisco channel leaders. They made many of their comments to us at this month’s Channel Partners Conference & Expo.
It was the deal heard around the channel. And partners had a lot to say about Kaseya acquiring Datto this month, including Terry Suellentrop, CEO of 3Nines Technologies. He made waves this week for not mincing his words about the $6.2 billion deal.
“I’ve been in this business long enough to see many times when someone buys a company that is doing very well, they do nothing but screw it up. Datto has their act together. Kaseya doesn’t,” Suellentrop said.
To read more about partners voicing their concerns about the acquisition, read Allison Francis’ reporting.
For the last year, the conversation around hybrid work has dominated the channel. Channel Futures approached this topic recently in its latest CF List, 2022’s 20 UCaaS Providers You Should Know. We gauged analysts’ opinions on where society is regarding this nature of work.
Tim Banting is Omdia’s Digital Workplace Practice lead. (Omdia is part of Informa, the parent company of Channel Futures.) He made waves for his hybrid work predictions.
“We are now in the great experimentation stage of, hopefully, post-pandemic working,” he said. “This is where organizations will be experimenting with what hybrid working means for their customers, business operations and employees. Omdia believes that hybrid working will now be a permanent requirement of most organizations, and the employee experience is now a priority. Omdia data shows that just under half of the workforce will work away from the office for at least three days per week.”
See who made the list here.
There were many moments to point to during the Channel Partners Conference & Expo that stood out. One of them was Callie Field’s speech. The president of T-Mobile’s Business Group, title sponsor of CP Expo, made waves for wanting to extend the company’s channel lead in 5G. Field shared customer success stories with the likes of BMW Group and Alaska Airlines to show partners how T-Mobile is opening new opportunities and reaching new targets such as health care.
Read more about her keynote here.
The influx of M&A in the channel hasn’t illuded cybersecurity providers.
Brian Thomas is Malwarebytes’ vice president of worldwide MSP and channel programs. He made waves this week for identifying what’s driving cybersecurity M&A. Thomas said it’s “definitely a platform portfolio play.”
“There’s a lot of chatter on social media right now specifically around the Kaseya-Datto piece of this,” he said. “But I’d also say that to put a positive spin out there, especially for our MSPs, is Kaseya was growing 20% annually prior to this acquisition and obviously there is a lot being done right there. So even though there’s so much product overlap between the two that I think will ferret out over the next few years, I think there’s an overwhelmingly positive thing for MSPs out there with simplification that they can offer.”
Read Edward Gately’s piece to learn more about how cybersecurity M&A is often inevitable.
Our most-read article this week involved celebrity inventor-entrepreneur Elon Musk. Musk is often known for making waves and this week was no exception. Musk would like to buy Twitter but has engaged in a war of words, cheekily on Twitter, with the company’s board. How does this relate to the channel?
That’s where Seth Boro comes into play. He’s the managing partner of private equity firm Thoma Bravo, which is no stranger to acquiring companies that do business in the channel. The firm has quietly reached out to Twitter, although it’s just speculation whether they will offer a counter bid to Musk’s.
Click here to read the CF coverage of Musk’s Twitter drama.
Our most-read article this week involved celebrity inventor-entrepreneur Elon Musk. Musk is often known for making waves and this week was no exception. Musk would like to buy Twitter but has engaged in a war of words, cheekily on Twitter, with the company’s board. How does this relate to the channel?
That’s where Seth Boro comes into play. He’s the managing partner of private equity firm Thoma Bravo, which is no stranger to acquiring companies that do business in the channel. The firm has quietly reached out to Twitter, although it’s just speculation whether they will offer a counter bid to Musk’s.
Click here to read the CF coverage of Musk’s Twitter drama.
Our weekly Channel People Making Waves counts down the top stories of the past seven days. We highlight the individuals behind the stories, this week featuring Cisco, T-Mobile, Google Cloud and more.
Google Cloud has made this list a few weeks running. This time it did for the company’s “consumption packs” which should support customers and streamline their journeys to the cloud. We highlight the Google Cloud leader who explained this process in the most basic terms.
In the last two years, the pandemic forced the world of hybrid work upon us faster than its expected trajectory. Now, experts discuss what that looks like for employees. We feature one expert from Omdia who says that just under half of the workforce will work away from the office for at least three days per week.
Also, who is the celebrity entrepreneur-inventor making waves, at least indirectly, in the channel? Check out our slideshow above for the people who made the top stories of the week.
Lastly, don’t forget to catch our previous roundup, which you can find here.
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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