AT&T, Telarus, MicroCorp Vet to Lead RSI's Channel

Renaissance Systems Inc. (RSI) just promoted Trish Kapos to channel chief to grow the MSSP’s channel distribution model.

Kapos joined RSI in July 2019 and serves as its vice president of sales and marketing. As channel chief, she will further develop strategic alliances within its growing partner base and retain marketing responsibilities.

RSI has been delivering custom software and IT for 40 years. It entered the channel in early 2019 with compliance and cybersecurity assessments.

“I’ve actually been operating as the channel chief in my current role,” Kapos said. “Our approach to compliance and security has evolved over the last two years since we entered the channel. Last year alone, RSI completed more than 125 compliance risk assessments. And as a direct result of the remediation from those assessments, our managed services and IT revenues grew as well. We have strong footing, we know our brand, we know our story, so now it’s time to double down on our partners and scale our program with someone solely focused on the mission of growing channel partners.”

Channel-First Distribution Strategy

RSI is a “strong believer of ecosystem selling and delivery,” and will continue its channel-first distribution strategy, Kapos said.

RSI’s Trish Kapos

“What we always try to find is synergy with other organizations that demonstrate the same passion for operational excellence and client experience,” she said. “That approach takes time, but yields lifelong partners and clients. Additionally, we aim to package our products and professional services in a channel-friendly manner for recurring revenue and additional services. We will continue to innovate in the areas of trusted advisor enablement rather than just pre-sales activities. RSI will be a significantly larger organization as a result.”

Since joining RSI, Kapos swiftly rebranded the MSSP and built the company’s sales operations and partner-centric program to support the master agent channel. Due to demand for its compliance services, RSI refined its processes and added several other security offerings. Those include third-party risk management, security architecture services and cybersecurity program management.

As channel chief, Kapos will assist channel partners in developing cybersecurity practices.

“Excellent client experience reigns supreme at RSI, but from an operational perspective, it’s developing partner relationships in a manner not being done in the channel,” she said. “What we like to do is take partner organizations that simply sell security products alongside their menu of other services, and convert them into strategic security sellers who can solve the business program. We assist with marketing strategy, business process improvement, automate their operations and help them build a security practice that yields net new clients for both of us. Most often, suppliers invest in presales support and tools. But we see that approach becoming less and less effective. Partners need these additional services to stand up a security practice that will thrive in the long run.”

Tech Sales and Marketing Experience

Kapos has more than 25 years’ experience in technology sales and marketing. She started her channel career at AT&T. Prior to RSI, Kapos’ most recent channel positions have been in marketing leadership for Telarus and MicroCorp.

“We have yet to see a competing security approach or a solution like ours, with all the documentation and project management to support it,” she said. “All security providers bump into one another at some point. But what the client ends up buying is the relationship they favor and the security approach that resonates with them the most. This is why we continuously beat the drum internally about client experience. Our approach is efficient. We do not present cookie-cutter deliverables and we don’t operate from a template. It’s always custom, always addresses the larger business problem. Our deliverables are well-documented and it always produces a client road map for continuous improvement. That is rarely the objective, much less the outcome, of the competitor offers we’re up against.”

David Burgeson is RSI’s CEO.

“Trish’s deep understanding of the channel and her keen ability to execute has been critical to RSI’s enormous growth,” he said. “Her empathic approach to helping RSI’s channel partners has equally contributed to their successes as well.”