Glia Hires NICE Alum, 'Adding Rocket Fuel' to Partner Strategy

Customer interaction technology provider Glia just signaled its seriousness to compete in the tech advisor (TA) and tech services distributor (TSD) channel with the appointment of a new advisor.

Ray Hicken, a longtime channel leader at contact-center-as-a-service (CCaaS) provider NICE, has joined New York-based Glia as executive channel advisor. He joins just two months after Chad Haydar came aboard as senior vice president of alliances and channels. Glia has been engaging in indirect sales for years in referral, reseller and OEM motions, but Hicken will direct his focus on TAs and TSDs, who operate in an agent model.

“With decades of experience in driving growth and navigating the channel, Ray brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise that sets us up for lasting success," Glia founder and CEO Dan Michaeli said. "... Ray’s appointment as executive channel advisor is already adding rocket fuel to Glia’s trajectory in the channel. We’re working together to create a vibrant channel ecosystem to bring trusted advisors a differentiated solution for high-trust industries.”

Glia's Dan Michaeli

Hicken spent the last five years at NICE, where he led channel CX sales in the Americas. Prior to that, he led strategic contact center partnerships for TSD Telarus and sales at TSD CarrierSales (which Telarus bought). Hicken also worked at inContact prior to NICE's acquisition of the company.

Related:Top Gun 51 Profile: Nice InContact U.S. Channel Leader Ray Hicken

Why Hicken Joined Glia

Hicken told Channel Futures he picked Glia out of a multitude of choices, citing the intelligence and technical capacity of Glia's founders. He also cited Glia's focus on unified interaction management, a term the company prefers to use over customer experience (CX) and CCaaS.

“Glia breaks the mold of traditional CCaaS and contact center tech providers. With its 'ChannelLess' architecture and innovative pricing model, the company offers a welcome change and a modern platform for all digital and voice customer interactions. I am excited to be part of something truly new and disruptive in customer experience,” Hicken said.

Hicken added that he knew Glia's founders would take a patient approach to investing in the TSD space. In a world where many vendors sink money into the TSD channel and then cut bait before giving the channel team enough time to develop relationships and pipeline, Hicken said he wanted to know that Glia would stay the course.

“Because Glia is purpose-built for the channel, I am confident they’ll become a significant player in the channel ecosystem, and I look forward to leveraging my experience to drive the company’s growth strategy forward.”