8x8 Hires Former Salesforce, Twilio Exec to Lead Channel Sales

8x8 on Monday said it's bringing on a former Salesforce and Twilio executive to lead its channel sales efforts.

Michelle Paitich will take over those efforts following the September departure of Lisa Del Real, who left the company abruptly. 8x8 initially replaced Del Real with company vet Michael Quince, who served as provisional channel leader for three months. 

Paitich worked for the CPaaS giant Twilio for nearly six years, serving as senior director of global Flex partner strategy for the firm's North American partners. She also served as senior director of partner experience for operations, programs and strategy. 

8x8's Michelle Paitich

Before that, Paitich worked at Salesforce in a channel-facing role as director of its AppExchange ISV (independent software vendor) program, where she likewise headed up partner success.

Leveraging her breadth of experience in the ISV/SI (system integrator) world, 8x8 said that Paitich shares a passion for growth success in channel sales, adding that "she will continue to execute 8x8’s vision and strategy and expand our innovation and presence in the contact center space," in a blog. 

Leveraging Previous Experience for Success

Paitich said she hopes to use her earlier success at Salesforce and Twilio to develop 8x8's channel sales program.

Related:8x8 Is Shaking Things Up for Channel Partners

"I’ve built channel programs and teams from the ground up, have rebuilt them, and have accelerated growth across many different types of partners and go-to-market motions, most recently in the CCaaS/CPaaS space where 8x8 is strongly focused," she said.

Paitich noted that she will alter how 8x8 goes to market through system integrators, resellers and integration partners.

Paitich on Channel Sales Challenges and Opportunities 

"Different types of partners face different challenges, but at the end of the day, they all want to build successful businesses for their customers. They want to work with companies that solve business problems for their customers in innovative and differentiated ways," Paitich said. 

She asserts that technology vendors must make it easy for partners to do that with 8x8. Regarding the biggest areas of opportunity, Paitich thinks that 8x8 partners play a pivotal role in the company, amounting to a "huge advantage." She hopes to capitalize on this notion.

"Partner programs look like a lot of different things, but there are a lot of commonalities among them. The best partner programs drive the corporate strategy forward through the channel in clear and focused ways," she said.

Paitich additionally believes these programs make it "easy to partner," easy to understand, and easy to unlock the opportunity.

Related:Channel Leader Leaves 8x8 in 'Abrupt' Move

"The best partner programs communicate the opportunity for partners and how they unlock that opportunity," Paitich said in the same blog.