Intelisys, Masergy Alum Returns to Lead Vonage Channel

Cloud communications provider Vonage has named a familiar face to lead its indirect routes to market.

Kristy Thomas has taken on the role of senior vice president of global channels and alliances. She moves over to Vonage from E78 Partners, where she served as vice president of enterprise solutions. She knows Vonage well, having worked at the company from 2018-2020 and helped to establish its contact center business.

Vonage's Kristy Thomas

"Kristy is a respected and well-known leader within the channel space and I am thrilled to welcome her back to the Vonage team,” said Reggie Scales, Vonage's acting head of applications. “At Vonage, we offer full-service partner programs — from introduction to provisioning to deployment and beyond. Kristy will be instrumental in supporting our partners to continue to 'think Vonage first' for every step of their customers’ life cycles. Her unrivaled passion for customer experience, technology innovation, and sales strategy will be vital to helping drive and steer our channel strategy, which remains a high —growth, core focus of our overall corporate strategy."

Vonage's Reggie Scales

Vonage Channel

Thomas in her role will oversee Vonage channel partners, including technology services distributors (TSDs), system integrators (SIs) and resellers, as well as alliance partners like SaaS vendors and hyperscalers.

Related:E78 Partners Adds Intelisys, Masergy Alum Kristy Thomas

Thomas told Channel Futures that she's excited to have returned.

"Vonage is not only a leader in the marketplace with its product offering, but also has some of the most talented people I have worked with within the industry. I look forward to working closely with our strong channel management team to provide expert advocacy and support to our robust network of trusted partners around the globe to guide and support them in embracing the kind of technology that presents high-growth opportunities for their businesses and drives meaningful connections for their customers."

"Innovative products, seamless execution and a consistent experience" are three pillars of the promises she's making to Vonage channel partners.

"We are continuing to invest in our channel program, providing increased and personalized support for our partner community and their customers – before, during and after deployment – as well as rich and fast onboarding, ensuring teams have the ongoing support and training they need to get the most out of Vonage’s full suite of products and services," Thomas said.

Jim Regan previously held the role of channel chief at Vonage, but he is leaving the company to focus on a new opportunity, according to a source.

Related:Avaya CEO Alan Masarek to Retire, Company Names Successor

A CX Wiz

Thomas has worked in multiple leadership positions focused on cloud communications, contact center as a service (CCaaS) and customer experience (CX) platforms.

She worked for about six years at Masergy, serving as vice president of cloud communications. According to a news release, she oversaw 30% year-over-year growth in her division and reached the Chairman's Club four times.

In 2018, Vonage's then-CEO, Alan Masarek, personally recruited Thomas to be senior vice president of global contact center. This was just a month before Vonage announced it was spending $350 million to buy cloud contact center provider NewVoiceMedia.

She then led Vonage's western sales region, establishing a "partner-first" account-based selling motion.

“Kristy made a tremendous impact on our business when she previously served on the sales team at Vonage, not only in the growth of our contact center business but in the way our sales teams support our network of partners," Scales said. "We are fortunate and delighted to have her back at Vonage where she will be an invaluable asset in driving innovation and success for our business, for our partners and for their customers.”

Thomas moved to perform the same western sales leader role at CCaaS provider Talkdesk. Then she moved to ScanSource-owned TSD Intelisys. After developing the company's CX program, she served as vice president of partner experience and enablement. The TSD's customer experience practice grew 37% year-over-year in her tenure, according to the company.

Related:Vonage Write-Down Could Signal Internal, Channel Strife

Vonage is owned by Ericsson, which recently wrote down the company for $1.1 billion.