Glackin Joins Cinven-Backed Nitel, Eyes MSP Partner Growth
"The key to engaging with the MSPs where we've traditionally failed in the traditional telecom channel is that we've tried to force the MSPs to operate the way we operate," Glackin said.
![Hired Hired](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt10e444bce2d36aa8/blta9a062ad0c29240c/65242ff040861a5b1ca83aea/Hired.jpg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Shutterstock
Glackin brings deep experience from the carrier side of the channel. He worked for a decade at AT&T before moving to Qwest/CenturyLink. Glackin joined Masergy in 2020, vowing to establish Masergy as a proactive channel program.
He oversaw the launch of the Zenith Partner Program, which increased training, branding and financial incentives for partners. Under Glackin’s tenure, Masergy saw its first TSB partner reach $1 million in annual new sales with the vendor.
Comcast Business last year made a landmark acquisition of Masergy in a deal that partners praised for both sides.
In late February 2022 Comcast announced that Craig Schlagbaum would be leading the Comcast and Masergy channel team.
Arizona-based PlanetOne secured the title of Nitel’s first platinum partner last year. PlanetOne has also earned numerous platinum partner recognitions from Masergy, where Glackin previously worked.
“This is a win across the board and on multiple levels,” PlanetOne founder and CEO Ted Schuman said. “I’m very pleased for Nitel, Jim and our mutual partners. We are looking forward to the exciting changes Jim will bring to the table leveraging his years of success and leadership in the channel. Cheers to all.”
Eric Ludwig co-founded Rise Technology Advisors last year. He praised Glackin’s approach to partnerships.
“Jim is one of the most thoughtful executives in the channel,” Ludwig said. “He has been in the role of seller, partner, executive and chief cheerleader. He is always willing to share best practices and offer guidance and advocacy on behalf of his partners.”
Janet Schijns, CEO and co-founder of JS Group, praised Glackin for his advocacy in the channel.
“Jim Glackin is one of the most popular guys in the channel for for a million reasons. He’s a great business person. He’s trusted by the channel. And he’s a champion for DE&I. He’s the real deal. Beware, vendor competitors, because he’s going to make Nitel something huge in the channel,” Schijns said.
Shane Stark is the chief operating officer at Carrier Access, which directly partners with both Nitel and Masergy.
“We have been working together with him for over 15-plus years, and he has always shown a genuine interest in our business and how he can help us grow. Jim takes a partner-first approach in how he does things. Looking forward to seeing some of the great things he will bring to Nitel,” Stark said.
Nitel also unveiled new DDoS mitigation services. Partners can sell the offering starting at the end of April.
The company cited a 2020 Corero DDoS Threat Intelligence Report that observed a 70% increase in DDoS attacks over the previous year.
“Direct costs can be huge when an attack occurs, but indirect costs can be devastating. By offering this solution, we are giving our channel partners a DDoS solution for their customers that can be easily accessed and deployed at any time from around the world to thwart these malicious attacks,” said Todd Miller, vice president of product at Nitel.
Nitel also unveiled new DDoS mitigation services. Partners can sell the offering starting at the end of April.
The company cited a 2020 Corero DDoS Threat Intelligence Report that observed a 70% increase in DDoS attacks over the previous year.
“Direct costs can be huge when an attack occurs, but indirect costs can be devastating. By offering this solution, we are giving our channel partners a DDoS solution for their customers that can be easily accessed and deployed at any time from around the world to thwart these malicious attacks,” said Todd Miller, vice president of product at Nitel.
Jim Glackin will lead the channel for Nitel as the Chicago-based technology services provider harnesses a private equity investment from Cinven.
Glackin, who is also based in the Chicago area, will work as executive vice president of channel sales for the company. Glackin is entering a newly created role at Nitel that focuses on the channel. The company recently promoted executive vice president of sales and marketing Mark Dickey, who previously oversaw channel, to chief revenue officer. Nitel drives approximately 40% of its revenue through wholesale and 60% through channel partners. Glackin is taking responsibility for the latter market route.
Jim Glackin
“We’ve never had a leader solely dedicated to channel, so this is a major investment by Nitel into the channel,” Glackin told Channel Futures. “It’s a significant investment to broaden our reach and commitment to the channel.”
New Role
Glackin said he’ll work to promote Nitel’s efforts to move beyond broadband aggregation and into cloud enablement, security and other managed solutions. He’ll work to identify and engage with new partners as well as expand existing relationships. One such area of new partners is MSPs. While Nitel will be doubling down on the “white-hot” traditional agent model, Glackin said he sees major opportunity to sell with MSPs.
“I think that the MSP channel, which has traditionally stayed out of selling the traditional products and services of this channel, are actually now looking to jump in with both feet,” he said.
However, Glackin said Nitel needs to work with MSPs in the way MSPs feel most comfortable.
“The key to engaging with the MSPs where we’ve traditionally failed in the traditional telecom channel is that we’ve tried to force the MSPs to operate the way we operate,” he said. “And if you really want to be successful in that space, you’ve got to be able to fit into the selling motion of the MSP.”
To that end, Glackin said Nitel is looking to engage with the traditional IT distributors. Glackin said he has already started reaching out to some of the top players.
He also said wants he wants to grow the channel on an international basis.
Nitel Investment
Nitel last November announced its acceptance of funding from London-based private equity firm Cinven. The firm said it was helping Nitel tackle a total addressable market of more than $28 billion. That comes from the vendor efforts in managed internet connectivity services (which includes SD-WAN) and managed security.
A couple of months after announcing the investment, Nitel announced that it had promoted Dickey to chief revenue officer and promoted Margi Shaw to CEO. Nitel founders Rick Stern and Ron Grason moved into board observer roles.
Scroll through the images above to read comments from partners and friends of Jim, as well as news of Nitel’s new DDoS mitigation offering.
Want to contact the author directly about this story? Have ideas for a follow-up article? Email James Anderson or connect with him on LinkedIn. |
About the Author(s)
You May Also Like