Connectivity

The Office: N-able's Derik Belair Replacing Steve Carell?

Move over, Steve Carell. N-able Technologies VP Derik Belair seems to be pushing his way into The Office. But won't it be really hard for Belair to replace such a big star who has enjoyed such lengthy success? ("That's what she said.") Hmmm...

August 4, 2010

derik belair the office

Move over, Steve Carell. N-able Technologies VP Derik Belair seems to be pushing his way into The Office. But won’t it be really hard for Belair to replace such a big star who has enjoyed such lengthy success? (“That’s what she said.”) Hmmm… Can The VAR Guy stop with the lame attempts at Carell-inspired humor and please explain Belair’s apparent Office invasion? Sorry for the lengthy set-up. Here’s the scoop.

Belair is the latest channel-centric executive to step in front of the camera for CompTIA’s PitchIT video contest. His star turn involves a spoof of The Office. No doubt, blending MSP product pitches with humor certainly demands big-time talent. (“That’s what she” … again).

derik belair n-able

Still, Belair (pictured) repeatedly rose to the occasion (“That’s what…” um, you get it) before returning to his post as VP of marketing and business development at N-able, the remote monitoring and management (RMM) software specialist.

Lights, Camera, CompTIA

Meanwhile, buzz about the CompTIA PitchIT video contest has grown in recent weeks. The VAR Guy noted an early popularity contest between Autotask– and ConnectWise– submitted videos. But somewhere along the line, the viewer votes for Autotask apparently reset to zero, temporarily knocking Rezitech’s Travis Austin to the canvas. A software glitch or a hack from some of the contest laggards? The VAR Guy will let you decide.

Despite all the fun, there are some viral marketing lessons here. The CompTIA PitchIt video contest helped to generate some early buzz leading up to the CompTIA Breakaway conference (Aug. 9-12, San Antonio).

Also, the viral videos show how small, nimble, creative software companies can engage channel audiences just as successfully as large, entrenched IT companies. Plus, you’ll notice that many of the PitchIt video contributions are from MSP-related software companies — the latest indication that MSPs enjoy growing influence across the channel.

Still, let’s not take the viral videos too seriously. It’s one thing to make an audience laugh. It’s another thing for a tech company to always satisfy the channe’s most pressing needs. (“That’s…”)

Memo to non-Office fans. Here’s everything you need to understand the blog above:

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