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COMPTIA CHANNELCON — During this week’s ChannelCon 2022, CompTIA launched a new program to foster more careers in technology. This includes attracting a broader array of potential candidates.

Todd Thibodeaux, CompTIA’s president and CEO, revealed the association’s Project Agora during his state of the industry keynote. With Project Agora, CompTIA will create a resource-rich source of information and support for anyone interested in starting, staying and succeeding in technology careers.

CompTIA’s Todd Thibodeaux

“The goal of Project Agora is to create the most respected place to start, build and supercharge your tech career,” Thibodeaux said. “With amazing resources and broad support from our members, partners and industry, Project Agora will help people find success in the tech workforce.”

Unprecedented Labor Market Shift

The labor market is in a period of unprecedented transition. It’s characterized in large part by “frictional unemployment” as individuals search for, or transition from one job to another, according to CompTIA. One in four U.S. workers was actively seeking a new job or pursuing other career options during the second quarter.

While tech is among the top five industries job seekers were considering, it ranked behind several other sectors,. Those include sales, real estate, health care, hospitality and finance.

Factors contributing to a reluctance to consider tech as a career option include a lack of confidence in technical skills; concerns about the cost and the time it will take to learn those skills; and perceptions about tech industry culture.

Project Agora will help curb that reluctance, he said. It will allow individuals to explore in great depth tech jobs and careers.

Call to Action

CompTIA has identified 30 different job roles covering 90% of tech employment. The next step is creating resources to engage users and convert them from career intent to tech intent.

Thibodeaux issued a call to action to get involved in this effort. The idea is to build the best, most comprehensive collection of tech career resources available anywhere.

“Confidence gaps, career transition gaps and reskilling gaps are not insurmountable barriers, but rather opportunities to chart a new course for individuals and the companies that employ them,” he said. “Project Agora is all about unlocking potential, for the industry, and for millions of people we want and need working in it.”

Thibodeaux said the way the tech industry will get the talent it needs is by “fighting for it.”

“We need to tell better stories, more consistently, about how truly great it is to work in tech,” he said. “That it’s a big tent where companies invest in people from all backgrounds. It means accepting people who are 50%60% of the way there, but loaded with potential. It means creating and committing to long-term career paths for the people you invest in.”

Thoma Bravo is buying Ping Identity in a $2.8 billion, all-cash deal, taking the enterprise identity management company private.

The offer represents a premium of approximately 63% over Ping Identity’s closing share price on Aug. 2, the last full trading day prior to the acquisition announcement.

Ping Identity‘s board of directors unanimously approved the acquisition. It should close in the fourth quarter, subject to customary closing conditions. Those include approval by Ping Identity shareholders and regulatory approvals.

Upon closing, Ping Identity’s common stock will no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It will become a privately held company and will remain headquartered in Denver.

Ping Identity tells us it’s “excited to take this opportunity to deepen relationships with partners.”

“Ping and Thoma both recognize that identity security and frictionless user experiences have become essential in the digital-first economy,” it said. “Our shared commitment to growth and innovation will enable Ping to accelerate its cloud transformation and deliver industry-leading identity security experiences for customers, to the benefit of partners.”

Thoma Bravo has deep knowledge of and expertise in the identity and security sectors, Ping Identity said. In addition, it’s known for investing in high-growth cloud and cybersecurity businesses, and supporting companies with initiatives to turbocharge innovation and open new markets.

“Ping will continue to work very closely with partners to ensure these advantages translate to customer wins,” it said.

‘Compelling’ Transaction

Andre Durand is Ping Identity‘s CEO.

Ping Identity’s Andre Durand

“This compelling transaction is a testament to Ping Identity’s leading enterprise identity solutions, our talented team, and our outstanding customers and partners,” he said. “Identity security and frictionless user experiences have become essential in the digital-first economy. And Ping Identity is better positioned than ever to capitalize on the growing demand from modern enterprises for robust security solutions. We are pleased to partner with Thoma Bravo, which has a strong track record of investing in high-growth cloud software security businesses and supporting companies with initiatives to turbocharge innovation and open new markets.”

Other Thoma Bravo cybersecurity acquisitions include Sophos, Proofpoint and Sailpoint Technologies.

Rik Turner is principal analyst at Omdia, which shares a parent company with Channel Futures (Informa).

Omdia’s Rik Turner

“This is an interesting acquisition, in that Ping is in an expanding sector (IDaaS, both for B2E/B2B and B2C use cases), so it clearly has potential to grow its market share,” he said. “That said, Okta currently dominates that segment, growing from $500 million in revenue in 2020 to $835 million in 2021, to $1.3 billion in 2022. That compares very favorably with Ping, which is around the $300 million-plus mark and growing at a much slower rate.”

Thoma Bravo Likely Has Plans for Ping Identity

Thoma Bravo is not the asset-stripping type of private equity (PE) firm, Turner said.

“Nor is it content to manage decline, as we’ve seen with behemoths like Symantec (now Broadcom),” he said. “I suspect it will want to do some corporate engineering with Ping. Maybe slimming it down here and there. And perhaps adding some other assets, with a view to making it more competitive in its chosen market(s).”

Turner sees no major drawbacks to Thoma Bravo buying Ping Identity.

“I would caution, however, that if Thoma Bravo sells Ping on to another [private equity] firm within a year or two, that will be bad news, suggesting that it has given up on its plans for the company and is cutting its losses,” he said.

Seth Boro is a managing partner at Thoma Bravo.

Thoma Bravo’s Seth Boro

“A tectonic shift is occurring in intelligent identity solutions for the enterprise,” he said. “Ping Identity’s unique capabilities and strong position in enterprise identity security make it a great platform to deliver customer outcomes, expand into new use cases and support digital transformations. We are highly impressed with the talented Ping Identity team and look forward to working collaboratively in the years to come.”

Vista Equity Partners owns approximately 9.7% of Ping Identity’s outstanding shares. It has agreed to vote its shares in favor of the transaction.

AT&T Business CEO Anne Chow, a 32-year veteran of the carrier and an advocate for the channel, is retiring.

Chow announced her retirement this week on social media. She said she completed her last day of work on Monday.

Today was my last day as an @ATT @ATTBusiness employee.💙🌐 After 32yrs+2mos, it’s time to move onto the next chapter.⏳ I’m eternally grateful to all who made the journey so significant+memorable+impactful. 🙏 We’ll always be #ConnectedTogether. 🥰 #LifeafterATT #Rewirement📖 pic.twitter.com/c5erRQkcGL

— Anne Chow (周慧安) (@TheAnneChow) August 2, 2022

“After 32 years and two months, the time has come to move onto the next chapter. I’m eternally grateful to all of the people who made the past 3-plus decades so significant, memorable, and impactful,” Chow wrote. “I wish I could say thank you to each and every person face-to-face with a hug or a handshake. So … it is not goodbye, rather, it is till we meet again.”

AT&T’s Anne Chow

Chow is a towering figure in AT&T, enterprise technology and diversity, equity and inclusion. She became the first woman to serve as AT&T Business CEO. Moreover, no woman of color before her had held a CEO position at AT&T.

Chow joined AT&T in 1990, after a six-year stint at Bellcore (later known as Telcordia Technologies and Iconectiv). She performed a variety of roles in her first 18 years at Ma Bell. Those duties included network engineering, operations, marketing, direct sales, indirect sales and channel management.

She spent six years leading AT&T’s premier client group for midmarket to enterprise customers.

Her ascension up the ladder in AT&T’s business group led to her becoming president of national business in 2017. That job involved strategy of indirect channel programs for partners like tech services distributors and resellers.

Anne Chow in 2019 assumed the position of chief executive officer of AT&T Business. That group featured more than 30,000 employees.

Channel Legacy

Despite her lofty position at AT&T, Chow continued to interface with channel partners and represent them to the larger AT&T business.

The Channel Futures archive shows a 2008 blog post by Ian Kieninger (then GM of CDW) about AT&T’s channel conference. Chow affirmed AT&T’s commitment to the channel in a speech. She has repeated such a message in appearances to partners over the years. She told partners in 2018 that investing more in the channel prove to be a “breakthrough bet.” She admitted that AT&T had previously treated indirect sales as an supplemental strategy.

“Our growth strategy is one which is based on expanding our coverage of the market. We want to do that not just through our direct sales force, but we want to do that through channel partners,” she said at the time.

Other Recognition

Chow has served in a variety of board director roles.

She served on the board of directors for Girl Scouts of the USA. She also spent more than a dozen years on the board of directors for Asian American Justice Center. In addition, she was a founding board member for the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. She currently serves as lead director for FranklinCovey.

AT&T Business CEO Anne Chow, a 32-year veteran of the carrier and an advocate for the channel, is retiring.

Chow announced her retirement this week on social media. She said she completed her last day of work on Monday.

Today was my last day as an @ATT @ATTBusiness employee.💙🌐 After 32yrs+2mos, it’s time to move onto the next chapter.⏳ I’m eternally grateful to all who made the journey so significant+memorable+impactful. 🙏 We’ll always be #ConnectedTogether. 🥰 #LifeafterATT #Rewirement📖 pic.twitter.com/c5erRQkcGL

— Anne Chow (周慧安) (@TheAnneChow) August 2, 2022

“After 32 years and two months, the time has come to move onto the next chapter. I’m eternally grateful to all of the people who made the past 3-plus decades so significant, memorable, and impactful,” Chow wrote. “I wish I could say thank you to each and every person face-to-face with a hug or a handshake. So … it is not goodbye, rather, it is till we meet again.”

AT&T’s Anne Chow

Chow is a towering figure in AT&T, enterprise technology and diversity, equity and inclusion. She became the first woman to serve as AT&T Business CEO. Moreover, no woman of color before her had held a CEO position at AT&T.

Chow joined AT&T in 1990, after a six-year stint at Bellcore (later known as Telcordia Technologies and Iconectiv). She performed a variety of roles in her first 18 years at Ma Bell. Those duties included network engineering, operations, marketing, direct sales, indirect sales and channel management.

She spent six years leading AT&T’s premier client group for midmarket to enterprise customers.

Her ascension up the ladder in AT&T’s business group led to her becoming president of national business in 2017. That job involved strategy of indirect channel programs for partners like tech services distributors and resellers.

Anne Chow in 2019 assumed the position of chief executive officer of AT&T Business. That group featured more than 30,000 employees.

Channel Legacy

Despite her lofty position at AT&T, Chow continued to interface with channel partners and represent them to the larger AT&T business.

The Channel Futures archive shows a 2008 blog post by Ian Kieninger (then GM of CDW) about AT&T’s channel conference. Chow affirmed AT&T’s commitment to the channel in a speech. She has repeated such a message in appearances to partners over the years. She told partners in 2018 that investing more in the channel prove to be a “breakthrough bet.” She admitted that AT&T had previously treated indirect sales as an supplemental strategy.

“Our growth strategy is one which is based on expanding our coverage of the market. We want to do that not just through our direct sales force, but we want to do that through channel partners,” she said at the time.

Other Recognition

Chow has served in a variety of board director roles.

She served on the board of directors for Girl Scouts of the USA. She also spent more than a dozen years on the board of directors for Asian American Justice Center. In addition, she was a founding board member for the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. She currently serves as lead director for FranklinCovey.

AT&T Business CEO Anne Chow, a 32-year veteran of the carrier and an advocate for the channel, is retiring.

Chow announced her retirement this week on social media. She said she completed her last day of work on Monday.

Today was my last day as an @ATT @ATTBusiness employee.💙🌐 After 32yrs+2mos, it’s time to move onto the next chapter.⏳ I’m eternally grateful to all who made the journey so significant+memorable+impactful. 🙏 We’ll always be #ConnectedTogether. 🥰 #LifeafterATT #Rewirement📖 pic.twitter.com/c5erRQkcGL

— Anne Chow (周慧安) (@TheAnneChow) August 2, 2022

“After 32 years and two months, the time has come to move onto the next chapter. I’m eternally grateful to all of the people who made the past 3-plus decades so significant, memorable, and impactful,” Chow wrote. “I wish I could say thank you to each and every person face-to-face with a hug or a handshake. So … it is not goodbye, rather, it is till we meet again.”

AT&T’s Anne Chow

Chow is a towering figure in AT&T, enterprise technology and diversity, equity and inclusion. She became the first woman to serve as AT&T Business CEO. Moreover, no woman of color before her had held a CEO position at AT&T.

Chow joined AT&T in 1990, after a six-year stint at Bellcore (later known as Telcordia Technologies and Iconectiv). She performed a variety of roles in her first 18 years at Ma Bell. Those duties included network engineering, operations, marketing, direct sales, indirect sales and channel management.

She spent six years leading AT&T’s premier client group for midmarket to enterprise customers.

Her ascension up the ladder in AT&T’s business group led to her becoming president of national business in 2017. That job involved strategy of indirect channel programs for partners like tech services distributors and resellers.

Anne Chow in 2019 assumed the position of chief executive officer of AT&T Business. That group featured more than 30,000 employees.

Channel Legacy

Despite her lofty position at AT&T, Chow continued to interface with channel partners and represent them to the larger AT&T business.

The Channel Futures archive shows a 2008 blog post by Ian Kieninger (then GM of CDW) about AT&T’s channel conference. Chow affirmed AT&T’s commitment to the channel in a speech. She has repeated such a message in appearances to partners over the years. She told partners in 2018 that investing more in the channel prove to be a “breakthrough bet.” She admitted that AT&T had previously treated indirect sales as an supplemental strategy.

“Our growth strategy is one which is based on expanding our coverage of the market. We want to do that not just through our direct sales force, but we want to do that through channel partners,” she said at the time.

Other Recognition

Chow has served in a variety of board director roles.

She served on the board of directors for Girl Scouts of the USA. She also spent more than a dozen years on the board of directors for Asian American Justice Center. In addition, she was a founding board member for the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. She currently serves as lead director for FranklinCovey.

AT&T Business CEO Anne Chow, a 32-year veteran of the carrier and an advocate for the channel, is retiring.

Chow announced her retirement this week on social media. She said she completed her last day of work on Monday.

Today was my last day as an @ATT @ATTBusiness employee.💙🌐 After 32yrs+2mos, it’s time to move onto the next chapter.⏳ I’m eternally grateful to all who made the journey so significant+memorable+impactful. 🙏 We’ll always be #ConnectedTogether. 🥰 #LifeafterATT #Rewirement📖 pic.twitter.com/c5erRQkcGL

— Anne Chow (周慧安) (@TheAnneChow) August 2, 2022

“After 32 years and two months, the time has come to move onto the next chapter. I’m eternally grateful to all of the people who made the past 3-plus decades so significant, memorable, and impactful,” Chow wrote. “I wish I could say thank you to each and every person face-to-face with a hug or a handshake. So … it is not goodbye, rather, it is till we meet again.”

AT&T’s Anne Chow

Chow is a towering figure in AT&T, enterprise technology and diversity, equity and inclusion. She became the first woman to serve as AT&T Business CEO. Moreover, no woman of color before her had held a CEO position at AT&T.

Chow joined AT&T in 1990, after a six-year stint at Bellcore (later known as Telcordia Technologies and Iconectiv). She performed a variety of roles in her first 18 years at Ma Bell. Those duties included network engineering, operations, marketing, direct sales, indirect sales and channel management.

She spent six years leading AT&T’s premier client group for midmarket to enterprise customers.

Her ascension up the ladder in AT&T’s business group led to her becoming president of national business in 2017. That job involved strategy of indirect channel programs for partners like tech services distributors and resellers.

Anne Chow in 2019 assumed the position of chief executive officer of AT&T Business. That group featured more than 30,000 employees.

Channel Legacy

Despite her lofty position at AT&T, Chow continued to interface with channel partners and represent them to the larger AT&T business.

The Channel Futures archive shows a 2008 blog post by Ian Kieninger (then GM of CDW) about AT&T’s channel conference. Chow affirmed AT&T’s commitment to the channel in a speech. She has repeated such a message in appearances to partners over the years. She told partners in 2018 that investing more in the channel prove to be a “breakthrough bet.” She admitted that AT&T had previously treated indirect sales as an supplemental strategy.

“Our growth strategy is one which is based on expanding our coverage of the market. We want to do that not just through our direct sales force, but we want to do that through channel partners,” she said at the time.

Other Recognition

Chow has served in a variety of board director roles.

She served on the board of directors for Girl Scouts of the USA. She also spent more than a dozen years on the board of directors for Asian American Justice Center. In addition, she was a founding board member for the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. She currently serves as lead director for FranklinCovey.

AT&T Business CEO Anne Chow, a 32-year veteran of the carrier and an advocate for the channel, is retiring.

Chow announced her retirement this week on social media. She said she completed her last day of work on Monday.

Today was my last day as an @ATT @ATTBusiness employee.💙🌐 After 32yrs+2mos, it’s time to move onto the next chapter.⏳ I’m eternally grateful to all who made the journey so significant+memorable+impactful. 🙏 We’ll always be #ConnectedTogether. 🥰 #LifeafterATT #Rewirement📖 pic.twitter.com/c5erRQkcGL

— Anne Chow (周慧安) (@TheAnneChow) August 2, 2022

“After 32 years and two months, the time has come to move onto the next chapter. I’m eternally grateful to all of the people who made the past 3-plus decades so significant, memorable, and impactful,” Chow wrote. “I wish I could say thank you to each and every person face-to-face with a hug or a handshake. So … it is not goodbye, rather, it is till we meet again.”

AT&T’s Anne Chow

Chow is a towering figure in AT&T, enterprise technology and diversity, equity and inclusion. She became the first woman to serve as AT&T Business CEO. Moreover, no woman of color before her had held a CEO position at AT&T.

Chow joined AT&T in 1990, after a six-year stint at Bellcore (later known as Telcordia Technologies and Iconectiv). She performed a variety of roles in her first 18 years at Ma Bell. Those duties included network engineering, operations, marketing, direct sales, indirect sales and channel management.

She spent six years leading AT&T’s premier client group for midmarket to enterprise customers.

Her ascension up the ladder in AT&T’s business group led to her becoming president of national business in 2017. That job involved strategy of indirect channel programs for partners like tech services distributors and resellers.

Anne Chow in 2019 assumed the position of chief executive officer of AT&T Business. That group featured more than 30,000 employees.

Channel Legacy

Despite her lofty position at AT&T, Chow continued to interface with channel partners and represent them to the larger AT&T business.

The Channel Futures archive shows a 2008 blog post by Ian Kieninger (then GM of CDW) about AT&T’s channel conference. Chow affirmed AT&T’s commitment to the channel in a speech. She has repeated such a message in appearances to partners over the years. She told partners in 2018 that investing more in the channel prove to be a “breakthrough bet.” She admitted that AT&T had previously treated indirect sales as an supplemental strategy.

“Our growth strategy is one which is based on expanding our coverage of the market. We want to do that not just through our direct sales force, but we want to do that through channel partners,” she said at the time.

Other Recognition

Chow has served in a variety of board director roles.

She served on the board of directors for Girl Scouts of the USA. She also spent more than a dozen years on the board of directors for Asian American Justice Center. In addition, she was a founding board member for the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. She currently serves as lead director for FranklinCovey.

TELARUS PARTNER SUMMIT — Telarus executives are proclaiming the supremacy of the technology adviser model at the company’s annual partner summit.

Chief revenue officer Dan Foster said Telarus agents won customers deals over global systems integrators on multiple occasions in 2021.

Telarus’ Dan Foster

“We together beat out Accenture, Deloitte and KPMG in 2021, and we intend to kick some butt in 2022 and beyond with this technology stack that we’re chasing,” Foster said to the partner audience Wednesday in Salt Lake City.

Telarus CEO Adam Edwards likened the agent model to preventive health care. Compensating medical professionals for the overall health of their patients would lead to better outcomes than compensating them to fix something, Edwards said.

The agent model, which Telarus supports, compensates partners with monthly commissions on deals they sell through a massive portfolio of suppliers. Edwards said this recurring model incentivizes partners to pair their customers with vendors that will support them well in the long-term.

Telarus’ Adam Edwards

“If you’re a reseller, you can only resell a couple of manufacturers to your customer. A consultant bills for a few hours and issues a report,” he said during his Wednesday morning keynote. “But this channel has a fundamental difference. We depend on a great outcome for that customer. And if that customer has not received a great outcome, we need to do something about it. That will continue to propel this channel into the future, to dominate the delivery of technology and expertise through this channel.”

Telarus’ total new bookings grew 34% in 2021. Compare that to 28% in 2020 and 27% in 2019.

“You sold more technology over the last year than ever before,” Foster said.

TCG Acquisition

Telarus in June announced its acquisition of Florida-based TCG. The deal expanded Utah-based Telarus’ regional footprint. Moreover, Edwards said TCG brought a unique base of sales partners.

“They were actually bringing more new entrants into the channel than we’ve seen anybody else do. And that matters to all of us,” he said. “Whatever your position in the channel is, whether you are selling partner, a supplier or a TSB, more entrants into this way of selling this community is good for all of us.”

Although the channel has faced a great deal of M&A over the years, the consolidation historically occurred on the vendor side. However, private equity firms now are pouring money into a variety of TSBs and customer-facing agencies. For example, Bridgepointe Technologies, Avant, Upstack and Bluewave have taken investments and vowed to scale.

“Some people look at the consolidation among partners among TSBs as the end game. I would submit to you this is anything but the end game,” Edwards said. “We’re simply setting the pieces on the board for what’s truly going to happen in this channel. What Telarus has been building is scale, so that we can give you more resources — access to better technology, information, data that you need – and ultimately – what your customers need.”

Next-Gen Technology

Foster said partners are cross-selling and upselling more and more. As a result, deal size increased almost 25% in 2021.

“The diversity of deals that you’ve sold has never been greater. You sold customer experience projects. You sold cloud global optimization projects and networking throughout the world. You sold ERP. You sold marketing stacks,” Foster said.

Foster said that five years ago, network accounted for 90% of partner sales. However, advanced solutions now comprise 60%. That includes triple-digit cybersecurity growth.

But the technology stack will evolve further, Foster said. For example, extended reality, which will soon enable virtual changing rooms for retailers. He also noted robotic process automation, which is allowing businesses to automate data organization.

“Where there’s complexity, there’s margin. And we’re all about preserving your margin and driving the opportunity for you to sell more,” he said.

New Hall of Famers

Telarus added more partners to its Hall of Fame, which honors partners for long-term achievements with the TSB.

Elite Telecom Solutions was a top partner of both Telarus and CarrierSales before Telarus bought CarrierSales in 2017. The company has evolved beyond network over the years to excel in contact center sales.

Elite Telecom Solutions’ Todd Gorringe

“Early on, our more significant deals were SIP, and we partnered with different phone system VARs. So it was a natural progression for us to shift our focus over time to [customer experience],” Elite co-founder Todd Gorringe told Channel Futures. “Today almost every project we work on is CX, from the most basic to large global projects, bringing together multiple solutions together for our customers from voice/Omni/AI to outsourcing.”

Gorringe and co-founder Darlene Stephens accepted the recognition.

In addition, Eric Ryan Corp. (ERC) joined the Telarus Hall of Fame. Chief operating officer Rebecca Hink accepted the award on behalf of ERC.

Deepwatch, the managed detection and response (MDR) security provider, has hired Lori Cornmesser as senior vice president of global channel sales and alliances.

Deepwatch’s Lori Cornmesser

Cornmesser brings decades of commercial leadership experience to the role. She’ll be responsible for driving Deepwatch’s channel strategy and expanding the partner ecosystem.

Cornmesser was previously with CyCognito. There, she built the first partner program for the company as vice president of worldwide channel sales. Prior to that, she held channel leadership roles at Infoblox, Ixia and Juniper Networks.

“Deepwatch continues to meet the rapidly growing need for MDR services,” she said. “I’m extremely excited about the opportunity Deepwatch has for continued growth through the channel. I’m thrilled to join the Deepwatch team. And I look forward to building upon our valued partner relationships to capitalize on the tremendous demand for security services together.”

Deepwatch has had a partner-first approach since its founding. The company continuously collaborates with partners on marketing and sales strategies. It also provides technical support, training and advanced certifications.

Carl Helle is Deepwatch’s chief revenue officer.

“Our go-to-market is 100% channel and Lori will play a key role in achieving our company mission and growth goals,” he said. “We are excited to see the Deepwatch channel strategy evolve and expand under Lori’s guidance. We will leverage her proven leadership experience in sales, business development and marketing for the channel and our technology alliance partners.”

In addition to MDR, Deepwatch offers managed services for endpoint detection and response (EDR), vulnerability management (VM), advanced threat hunting and firewall management.

AT&T Business CEO Anne Chow, a 32-year veteran of the carrier and an advocate for the channel, is retiring.

Chow announced her retirement this week on social media. She said she completed her last day of work on Monday.

Today was my last day as an @ATT @ATTBusiness employee.💙🌐 After 32yrs+2mos, it’s time to move onto the next chapter.⏳ I’m eternally grateful to all who made the journey so significant+memorable+impactful. 🙏 We’ll always be #ConnectedTogether. 🥰 #LifeafterATT #Rewirement📖 pic.twitter.com/c5erRQkcGL

— Anne Chow (周慧安) (@TheAnneChow) August 2, 2022

“After 32 years and two months, the time has come to move onto the next chapter. I’m eternally grateful to all of the people who made the past 3-plus decades so significant, memorable, and impactful,” Chow wrote. “I wish I could say thank you to each and every person face-to-face with a hug or a handshake. So … it is not goodbye, rather, it is till we meet again.”

AT&T’s Anne Chow

Chow is a towering figure in AT&T, enterprise technology and diversity, equity and inclusion. She became the first woman to serve as AT&T Business CEO. Moreover, no woman of color before her had held a CEO position at AT&T.

Chow joined AT&T in 1990, after a six-year stint at Bellcore (later known as Telcordia Technologies and Iconectiv). She performed a variety of roles in her first 18 years at Ma Bell. Those duties included network engineering, operations, marketing, direct sales, indirect sales and channel management.

She spent six years leading AT&T’s premier client group for midmarket to enterprise customers.

Her ascension up the ladder in AT&T’s business group led to her becoming president of national business in 2017. That job involved strategy of indirect channel programs for partners like tech services distributors and resellers.

Anne Chow in 2019 assumed the position of chief executive officer of AT&T Business. That group featured more than 30,000 employees.

Channel Legacy

Despite her lofty position at AT&T, Chow continued to interface with channel partners and represent them to the larger AT&T business.

The Channel Futures archive shows a 2008 blog post by Ian Kieninger (then GM of CDW) about AT&T’s channel conference. Chow affirmed AT&T’s commitment to the channel in a speech. She has repeated such a message in appearances to partners over the years. She told partners in 2018 that investing more in the channel prove to be a “breakthrough bet.” She admitted that AT&T had previously treated indirect sales as an supplemental strategy.

“Our growth strategy is one which is based on expanding our coverage of the market. We want to do that not just through our direct sales force, but we want to do that through channel partners,” she said at the time.

Other Recognition

Chow has served in a variety of board director roles.

She served on the board of directors for Girl Scouts of the USA. She also spent more than a dozen years on the board of directors for Asian American Justice Center. In addition, she was a founding board member for the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund. She currently serves as lead director for FranklinCovey.