Hottest Stories: New AT&T SD-WAN Solution, Lisa Miller Leaves CenturyLink, TPx Taps CEO

CenturyLink said goodbye to a partner program leader, and Masergy welcomed a channel chief.

Personnel appointments featured prominently in our latest week of news. TPx Communications tapped a new CEO, Masergy hired a channel chief, and a highly influential CenturyLink executive left the company.

Our hardy editorial staff also covered a market study, news from Zoom, Avaya’s latest product updates and new AT&T’s SD-WAN solution.

Check out the seven mini-stories below to see if you missed anything good this week.

7. TPx Communications Hires Well-Known PGi, Avaya Vet as New CEO

The managed services and connectivity provider welcomed Don Joos into the fold as its chief executive officer.

Joos replaed interim CEO Joe Cozzolino, who replaced the retired Dick Jalkut. Joos most recently worked at PGi, and he spent a total of nine years at Avaya.

The private equity firm Siris has officially owned TPx since February.

Edward Gately has the scoop.

6. Cisco, Dell, HPE Named ‘Key Vendors’ in Hyperconverged Infrastructure

The future looks exceptionally bright for hyperconverged infrastructure, according to a new study.

Allied Market Research predicts the market to surpass $33 billion by 2026. Compare that to 2018, when the HCI industry equated to only $3.9 billion.

Get more details from the study.

5. Zoom Now Offers Video Conferencing Hardware with HaaS

The company so widely known for its conferencing application is getting into the hardware game.

Zoom this week introduced a hardware-as-a-service (HaaS) program. The company is teaming up with manufacturers like Yealink and Poly, but its approach is decidedly different. The customer will buy hardware from Zoom.

“Our partnerships with hardware vendors have been — we provide software, they provide hardware, the customer purchases the hardware wherever they feel like … and they can load our software on it,” said Jeff Smith, head of Zoom Rooms. “As you might imagine, that leads to a lot of complexity.”

Learn about Zoom’s latest move.

4. CenturyLink, AT&T Alum Lands Masergy Channel Chief Job

Jim Glackin will lead Masergy’s channel as the company ramps up partner investment.

The company will pursue new channels and add new resources with its current partners. The hire stressed the importance of proactively generating opportunities for partners.

“I see most channel programs as reactive, ready and willing to jump in on opportunities, but not actively working to help partners generate new opportunities,” he wrote in a blog.

Check out our profile of Glackin.

3. AT&T to Partner with Cisco for SD-WAN Managed Service

Cisco joined AT&T’s SD-WAN portfolio.

AT&T channel partners will be able to sell Cisco Secure SD-WAN, which recently entered the carrier’s managed services portfolio. AT&T has partnered with VeloCloud/VMware in SD-WAN for more than three years and will still use it. However, analysts say it’s common to see carriers picking a second SD-WAN solution in 2020.

Read about why AT&T wanted a second SD-WAN partner.

2. Avaya Cloud Office by RingCentral Gains Momentum

Avaya’s relatively new UCaaS offering is humming along well in the U.S. as it enters several international markets.

Avaya Cloud Office by RingCentral has been “ramping well” in the U.S., according to Miles Davis, vice president of channel sales for Avaya Canada. He noted that an update (“ACO 2.0”) will bring new tools and functionality to partners.

In the meantime, the platform has expanded into Australia, Canada and the U.K.

See Edward Gately’s Q&A with Davis.

1. Top CenturyLink Channel Exec Lisa Miller Unexpectedly Out

The long-time CenturyLink/Level 3 executive moved on last month to pursue other opportunities.

Miller had been serving as CenturyLink’s president of wholesale, indirect and SME. In her stead, Ed Morche will lead the indirect organization. Garrett Gee, however, maintains his position as channel chief.

See what we’ve learned about Miller’s departure.