Category Archives for "Managed Services News"

Oct 18

AT&T Partner Programs Eye Data-Driven Leads, Deal Registration

By | Managed Services News

Randall Porter this summer took responsibility for sales and partner management in three AT&T channel programs.

AT&T and its various channel programs are putting more investments into partner choice and enablement. This comes as the Dallas-based carrier doubles down on core competencies.

That statement comes from Randall Porter, who stepped into the role of  AT&T’s indirect channel lead this past summer. Porter, who oversees sales and partner management for the AT&T Partner Exchange, AT&T Alliance Channel and ACC Business programs, said AT&T will continue “leaning in heavily” into the indirect channel. He said the carrier will make updates to its partner portal and deal registration process in the upcoming quarters. He also said AT&T will give partners more intelligent data about potential customers.

“When we talk about leaning in more heavily to our partners, it really comes down to two things: providing them choice and providing enablement,” Porter told Channel Futures.

AT&T’s Randall Porter

Porter three months ago accepted the role of vice president, AT&T channel chief. That came amid a shift that more closely aligned AT&T Partner Exchange, Alliance Channel and ACC Business under Porter’s leadership. He reports to Sarita Rao, senior vice president, integrated and partner solutions at AT&T. Rao oversees those three AT&T channel programs, in addition to the wholesale and hyperscaler groups.

AT&T's Sarita Rao

AT&T’s Sarita Rao

Porter said AT&T forecasts an increasing reliance on partners for applications and managed services that complement AT&T’s investments in fiber and 5G.

“Given that opportunity for growth both in new and existing customers with partners, we felt like it was the right decision to pull the entire indirect ecosystem together under Sarita’s leadership,” he said.

Realignment

AT&T’s different partner programs have historically varied quite significantly. The Alliance Channel carries an association with the agent/advisor channel and teamed selling (although the program recently unveiled a non-teamed track and changed the way it differentiates between subagents and TSDs). ACC Business was historically associated with non-teamed sales and residual commissions. Partner Exchange (APEX) started in 2011 as a resale program for partners providing full management. Moreover, Porter said Alliance and ACC aligned directly with AT&T’s national business markets sales organization, co-selling into a large number of retail customers. Partner Exchange, on the other hand, aligned more closely with wholesale.

However, Porter said AT&T chose to change those alignments as it continued to grow its indirect efforts.

“As we developed a plan for growing indirect overall and ensuring that we had enough leadership and resources behind that to scale with our partners in the market, we chose to combine all of our indirect channels across [Partner Exchange], Alliance, ACC, wholesale and our hyperscalers,” he said.

Ongoing Investments

Poter said new capabilities like deal registration will bolster the partner experience. He said deal registration differs depending on the program.

“The intent of the strategy and capability is to ensure that regardless of your program, you have the ability to register a deal to either work that on your own, down a solo path, or if needed, work it in conjunction with our direct team from a co-sales standpoint. And so the automation and the linkage into your Salesforce systems would all be there to give the capability for that choice for the partner,” he said.

He also said AT&T plans to give partners more granular enablement that involves customer data.

“[We will be] getting a lot more intelligent with our data and our leads – tying that to …

Oct 18

Integris Acquires MSP Blue Jean Networks, MSSP Security7 Networks

By | Managed Services News

In August, Channel Futures named Integris the No. 1 fastest-growing MSP.

National MSP Integris has acquired Blue Jean Networks, a managed service provider, and Security7 Networks, an MSSP.

In August, Channel Futures named Integris the No. 1 fastest-growing MSP on our MSP 501 list. The Integris network now has offices in 10 states with nearly 500 employees. They offer enterprise IT services and round-the-clock security monitoring for the SMB market.

Integris didn’t say how much it’s paying for the two companies.

Rashaad Bajwa is Integris’ CEO.

Keep up with the latest channel-impacting mergers and acquisitions in our M&A roundup.
Integris' Rashaad Bajwa

Integris’ Rashaad Bajwa

“The addition of Blue Jean Networks and Security7 expands Integris’ capabilities and emphasizes our commitment to clients who need the highest possible levels of security for their businesses,” he said.

New Skills, Offerings for Integris Clients

Both acquisitions signify an expansion in skill sets and offerings to Integris’ current and future clients, Bajwa said. With Blue Jean Networks, Integris gains new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) and managed cybersecurity experts.

Sunny Lowe is Blue Jean Networks’ founder and CEO.

Blue Jean Networks' Sunny Lowe

Blue Jean Networks’ Sunny Lowe

“Joining Integris adds the ability to serve remote clients effectively,” he said. “This is a win for our existing clients, as well as those around the country seeking help with CMMC. Integris is a fantastic company. And we can’t wait to see what this new partnership can bring to the CMMC community,” 

Security7 Networks brings new and expanded cybersecurity practices. It allows Integris to add more CISOs, vCISO services and capabilities to provide compliance and regulatory consulting for more clients.

Jay Smith is Security7 Networks‘ president of sales.

Security7 Networks' Jay Smith

Security7 Networks’ Jay Smith

“Integris’ company culture, focus on integrity and exceptional reputation fell perfectly in line with Security7 values,” he said. “Now that we’ve joined forces, we’ll be able to provide broader services and deeper security offerings for our clients with the backing of a large, fast-growing premium MSP.”

Early this year, Iconic IT and Integris merged, combining the company under the Integris name. The merger made it one of the largest MSPs dedicated to the SMB sector.

Integris has partnered with Frontenac, a Chicago-based private equity firm, to build a national MSP platform.

The Purple Guys Acquires Golden Tech

In other MSP acquisition news, Kian Capital-backed The Purple Guys has completed its acquisition of MSP Golden Tech. Combined with its acquisition of Accelerate earlier this year, The Purple Guys says it is in a better position to deliver IT support and services to the broader Indiana and Chicago-area regions.

Kevin Cook is CEO of The Purple Guys.

The Purple Guys' Kevin Cook

The Purple Guys’ Kevin Cook

“We are thrilled to announce this highly strategic acquisition of Golden Tech, which is complementary to our existing offerings and supports our broader growth strategy,” he said. “We look forward to building on the company’s historical success and driving continued growth in the broader Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland markets.”

Oct 18

AT&T Partner Programs Eye Data-Driven Leads, Deal Registration

By | Managed Services News

Randall Porter this summer took responsibility for sales and partner management in three AT&T channel programs.

AT&T and its various channel programs are putting more investments into partner choice and enablement. This comes as the Dallas-based carrier doubles down on core competencies.

That statement comes from Randall Porter, who stepped into the role of  AT&T’s indirect channel lead this past summer. Porter, who oversees sales and partner management for the AT&T Partner Exchange, AT&T Alliance Channel and ACC Business programs, said AT&T will continue “leaning in heavily” into the indirect channel. He said the carrier will make updates to its partner portal and deal registration process in the upcoming quarters. He also said AT&T will give partners more intelligent data about potential customers.

“When we talk about leaning in more heavily to our partners, it really comes down to two things: providing them choice and providing enablement,” Porter told Channel Futures.

AT&T’s Randall Porter

Porter three months ago accepted the role of vice president, AT&T channel chief. That came amid a shift that more closely aligned AT&T Partner Exchange, Alliance Channel and ACC Business under Porter’s leadership. He reports to Sarita Rao, senior vice president, integrated and partner solutions at AT&T. Rao oversees those three AT&T channel programs, in addition to the wholesale and hyperscaler groups.

AT&T's Sarita Rao

AT&T’s Sarita Rao

Porter said AT&T forecasts an increasing reliance on partners for applications and managed services that complement AT&T’s investments in fiber and 5G.

“Given that opportunity for growth both in new and existing customers with partners, we felt like it was the right decision to pull the entire indirect ecosystem together under Sarita’s leadership,” he said.

Realignment

AT&T’s different partner programs have historically varied quite significantly. The Alliance Channel carries an association with the agent/advisor channel and teamed selling (although the program recently unveiled a non-teamed track and changed the way it differentiates between subagents and TSDs). ACC Business was historically associated with non-teamed sales and residual commissions. Partner Exchange (APEX) started in 2011 as a resale program for partners providing full management. Moreover, Porter said Alliance and ACC aligned directly with AT&T’s national business markets sales organization, co-selling into a large number of retail customers. Partner Exchange, on the other hand, aligned more closely with wholesale.

However, Porter said AT&T chose to change those alignments as it continued to grow its indirect efforts.

“As we developed a plan for growing indirect overall and ensuring that we had enough leadership and resources behind that to scale with our partners in the market, we chose to combine all of our indirect channels across [Partner Exchange], Alliance, ACC, wholesale and our hyperscalers,” he said.

Ongoing Investments

Poter said new capabilities like deal registration will bolster the partner experience. He said deal registration differs depending on the program.

“The intent of the strategy and capability is to ensure that regardless of your program, you have the ability to register a deal to either work that on your own, down a solo path, or if needed, work it in conjunction with our direct team from a co-sales standpoint. And so the automation and the linkage into your Salesforce systems would all be there to give the capability for that choice for the partner,” he said.

He also said AT&T plans to give partners more granular enablement that involves customer data.

“[We will be] getting a lot more intelligent with our data and our leads – tying that to …

Oct 18

AT&T Partner Programs Eye Data-Driven Leads, Deal Registration

By | Managed Services News

Randall Porter this summer took responsibility for sales and partner management in three AT&T channel programs.

AT&T and its various channel programs are putting more investments into partner choice and enablement. This comes as the Dallas-based carrier doubles down on core competencies.

That statement comes from Randall Porter, who stepped into the role of  AT&T’s indirect channel lead this past summer. Porter, who oversees sales and partner management for the AT&T Partner Exchange, AT&T Alliance Channel and ACC Business programs, said AT&T will continue “leaning in heavily” into the indirect channel. He said the carrier will make updates to its partner portal and deal registration process in the upcoming quarters. He also said AT&T will give partners more intelligent data about potential customers.

“When we talk about leaning in more heavily to our partners, it really comes down to two things: providing them choice and providing enablement,” Porter told Channel Futures.

AT&T’s Randall Porter

Porter three months ago accepted the role of vice president, AT&T channel chief. That came amid a shift that more closely aligned AT&T Partner Exchange, Alliance Channel and ACC Business under Porter’s leadership. He reports to Sarita Rao, senior vice president, integrated and partner solutions at AT&T. Rao oversees those three AT&T channel programs, in addition to the wholesale and hyperscaler groups.

AT&T's Sarita Rao

AT&T’s Sarita Rao

Porter said AT&T forecasts an increasing reliance on partners for applications and managed services that complement AT&T’s investments in fiber and 5G.

“Given that opportunity for growth both in new and existing customers with partners, we felt like it was the right decision to pull the entire indirect ecosystem together under Sarita’s leadership,” he said.

Realignment

AT&T’s different partner programs have historically varied quite significantly. The Alliance Channel carries an association with the agent/advisor channel and teamed selling (although the program recently unveiled a non-teamed track and changed the way it differentiates between subagents and TSDs). ACC Business was historically associated with non-teamed sales and residual commissions. Partner Exchange (APEX) started in 2011 as a resale program for partners providing full management. Moreover, Porter said Alliance and ACC aligned directly with AT&T’s national business markets sales organization, co-selling into a large number of retail customers. Partner Exchange, on the other hand, aligned more closely with wholesale.

However, Porter said AT&T chose to change those alignments as it continued to grow its indirect efforts.

“As we developed a plan for growing indirect overall and ensuring that we had enough leadership and resources behind that to scale with our partners in the market, we chose to combine all of our indirect channels across [Partner Exchange], Alliance, ACC, wholesale and our hyperscalers,” he said.

Ongoing Investments

Poter said new capabilities like deal registration will bolster the partner experience. He said deal registration differs depending on the program.

“The intent of the strategy and capability is to ensure that regardless of your program, you have the ability to register a deal to either work that on your own, down a solo path, or if needed, work it in conjunction with our direct team from a co-sales standpoint. And so the automation and the linkage into your Salesforce systems would all be there to give the capability for that choice for the partner,” he said.

He also said AT&T plans to give partners more granular enablement that involves customer data.

“[We will be] getting a lot more intelligent with our data and our leads – tying that to …

Oct 18

AT&T Partner Programs Eye Data-Driven Leads, Deal Registration

By | Managed Services News

Randall Porter this summer took responsibility for sales and partner management in three AT&T channel programs.

AT&T and its various channel programs are putting more investments into partner choice and enablement. This comes as the Dallas-based carrier doubles down on core competencies.

That statement comes from Randall Porter, who stepped into the role of  AT&T’s indirect channel lead this past summer. Porter, who oversees sales and partner management for the AT&T Partner Exchange, AT&T Alliance Channel and ACC Business programs, said AT&T will continue “leaning in heavily” into the indirect channel. He said the carrier will make updates to its partner portal and deal registration process in the upcoming quarters. He also said AT&T will give partners more intelligent data about potential customers.

“When we talk about leaning in more heavily to our partners, it really comes down to two things: providing them choice and providing enablement,” Porter told Channel Futures.

AT&T’s Randall Porter

Porter three months ago accepted the role of vice president, AT&T channel chief. That came amid a shift that more closely aligned AT&T Partner Exchange, Alliance Channel and ACC Business under Porter’s leadership. He reports to Sarita Rao, senior vice president, integrated and partner solutions at AT&T. Rao oversees those three AT&T channel programs, in addition to the wholesale and hyperscaler groups.

AT&T's Sarita Rao

AT&T’s Sarita Rao

Porter said AT&T forecasts an increasing reliance on partners for applications and managed services that complement AT&T’s investments in fiber and 5G.

“Given that opportunity for growth both in new and existing customers with partners, we felt like it was the right decision to pull the entire indirect ecosystem together under Sarita’s leadership,” he said.

Realignment

AT&T’s different partner programs have historically varied quite significantly. The Alliance Channel carries an association with the agent/advisor channel and teamed selling (although the program recently unveiled a non-teamed track and changed the way it differentiates between subagents and TSDs). ACC Business was historically associated with non-teamed sales and residual commissions. Partner Exchange (APEX) started in 2011 as a resale program for partners providing full management. Moreover, Porter said Alliance and ACC aligned directly with AT&T’s national business markets sales organization, co-selling into a large number of retail customers. Partner Exchange, on the other hand, aligned more closely with wholesale.

However, Porter said AT&T chose to change those alignments as it continued to grow its indirect efforts.

“As we developed a plan for growing indirect overall and ensuring that we had enough leadership and resources behind that to scale with our partners in the market, we chose to combine all of our indirect channels across [Partner Exchange], Alliance, ACC, wholesale and our hyperscalers,” he said.

Ongoing Investments

Poter said new capabilities like deal registration will bolster the partner experience. He said deal registration differs depending on the program.

“The intent of the strategy and capability is to ensure that regardless of your program, you have the ability to register a deal to either work that on your own, down a solo path, or if needed, work it in conjunction with our direct team from a co-sales standpoint. And so the automation and the linkage into your Salesforce systems would all be there to give the capability for that choice for the partner,” he said.

He also said AT&T plans to give partners more granular enablement that involves customer data.

“[We will be] getting a lot more intelligent with our data and our leads – tying that to …

Oct 18

AT&T Partner Programs Eye Data-Driven Leads, Deal Registration

By | Managed Services News

Randall Porter this summer took responsibility for sales and partner management in three AT&T channel programs.

AT&T and its various channel programs are putting more investments into partner choice and enablement. This comes as the Dallas-based carrier doubles down on core competencies.

That statement comes from Randall Porter, who stepped into the role of  AT&T’s indirect channel lead this past summer. Porter, who oversees sales and partner management for the AT&T Partner Exchange, AT&T Alliance Channel and ACC Business programs, said AT&T will continue “leaning in heavily” into the indirect channel. He said the carrier will make updates to its partner portal and deal registration process in the upcoming quarters. He also said AT&T will give partners more intelligent data about potential customers.

“When we talk about leaning in more heavily to our partners, it really comes down to two things: providing them choice and providing enablement,” Porter told Channel Futures.

AT&T’s Randall Porter

Porter three months ago accepted the role of vice president, AT&T channel chief. That came amid a shift that more closely aligned AT&T Partner Exchange, Alliance Channel and ACC Business under Porter’s leadership. He reports to Sarita Rao, senior vice president, integrated and partner solutions at AT&T. Rao oversees those three AT&T channel programs, in addition to the wholesale and hyperscaler groups.

AT&T's Sarita Rao

AT&T’s Sarita Rao

Porter said AT&T forecasts an increasing reliance on partners for applications and managed services that complement AT&T’s investments in fiber and 5G.

“Given that opportunity for growth both in new and existing customers with partners, we felt like it was the right decision to pull the entire indirect ecosystem together under Sarita’s leadership,” he said.

Realignment

AT&T’s different partner programs have historically varied quite significantly. The Alliance Channel carries an association with the agent/advisor channel and teamed selling (although the program recently unveiled a non-teamed track and changed the way it differentiates between subagents and TSDs). ACC Business was historically associated with non-teamed sales and residual commissions. Partner Exchange (APEX) started in 2011 as a resale program for partners providing full management. Moreover, Porter said Alliance and ACC aligned directly with AT&T’s national business markets sales organization, co-selling into a large number of retail customers. Partner Exchange, on the other hand, aligned more closely with wholesale.

However, Porter said AT&T chose to change those alignments as it continued to grow its indirect efforts.

“As we developed a plan for growing indirect overall and ensuring that we had enough leadership and resources behind that to scale with our partners in the market, we chose to combine all of our indirect channels across [Partner Exchange], Alliance, ACC, wholesale and our hyperscalers,” he said.

Ongoing Investments

Poter said new capabilities like deal registration will bolster the partner experience. He said deal registration differs depending on the program.

“The intent of the strategy and capability is to ensure that regardless of your program, you have the ability to register a deal to either work that on your own, down a solo path, or if needed, work it in conjunction with our direct team from a co-sales standpoint. And so the automation and the linkage into your Salesforce systems would all be there to give the capability for that choice for the partner,” he said.

He also said AT&T plans to give partners more granular enablement that involves customer data.

“[We will be] getting a lot more intelligent with our data and our leads – tying that to …

Oct 18

Brand-New NetApp Partner Program Represents ‘Foundation of the Future’

By | Managed Services News

The software company is moving from Unified Partner Program to Partner Sphere. We break it down.

By the end of next April, the NetApp partner program will feature just one iteration: Partner Sphere.

On Tuesday, the software company took the wraps off changes it’s launching at the start of its new fiscal year. In short, NetApp is consolidating all of its existing partner programs into a single initiative.

NetApp's Stephanie Ladner

NetApp’s Stephanie Ladner

“Fiscal year ’24 is going to be a wonderfully transitional year for our partners,” said Stephanie Ladner, senior director and global channel leader at NetApp.

NetApp ranks among the many legacy tech firms transitioning to a cloud world. As such, Partner Sphere emphasizes cloud and services over on-premises hardware and resale. It adapts to all partner types, Jenni Flinders, senior vice president, worldwide partner organization at NetApp, told Channel Futures.

NetApp's Jenni Flinders

NetApp’s Jenni Flinders

“We’re going beyond the traditional partners who have been fantastic partners over the years,” Flinders said.

In terms of which types of channel experts, in particular, NetApp wants to attract, Flinders told us: “The whole enchilada.”

Even so, NetApp Partner Sphere really embraces partners with services expertise. And the company is shifting to a competencies approach, rather than specializations. With this move, NetApp will push partners to earn competencies in cloud solutions, hybrid cloud, artificial intelligence and analytics.

That compares to NetApp’s current Unified Partner Program construct, which deliver specializations for Cloud Preferred, FlexPod, SAP, AI/ML, Data Protection, Data Security, Hosting Service Provider, Infrastructure, Spot by NetApp Preferred, as well as designations including Integration Services Certified, Lifecycle Services Certified and NetApp Keystone Services Certified.

Partner Sphere reduces the number of specializations required and calls them “competencies.” Partners have to demonstrate their capabilities across the four aforementioned domains, and certainly before they may progress to a higher tier.

How the New NetApp Partner Program Is Structured

To that point, the new NetApp partner program features the following levels: Approved, Preferred, Prestige and Prestige Plus. As with any such channel effort, partners will gain benefits and support as they ascend.

“Partners can travel among those tiers based on capabilities and commitment to NetApp,” Flinders said. “We also allow partners to measure their ROI through increasing support and benefit from us.”

That means, says NetApp, that partners who generate “the most impact” (read: make the most money) will reap the most rewards — specific marketing campaigns, proposal-based market development funds, value-based incentives and more. For example, Preferred partners will get business training and enablement, while Prestige gains access to advanced workshops with NetApp specialists, Flinders said.

“Partners are really excited about the cloud focus and services focus … because that’s obviously more lucrative,” Flinders said. Plus, she added, each partner “can choose how deep they want to go with NetApp.”

As such, a managed service provider, for example, could opt to just pursue a competency in hybrid cloud. Or that firm could tackle AI, too, for instance, especially if it runs its own network operations center.

“Each partner is unique,” Flinders said.

Look for Co-Selling and More

Once NetApp rolls out the simpler Partner Sphere, look for training and enablement – sales and technical – to “increase dramatically,” Flinders said. NetApp also will invest in more co-selling and co-engagement.

“You want to drive co-selling,” Flinders said. “It enables a deeper relationship with the customer. … That’s a really important factor for us.”

Again, NetApp Partner Sphere will not go live until the end of April 2023. This gives all NetApp partners about five months to prepare — and decide which at tier to start and invest accordingly in the new competencies.

“The key thing here is we’re coming to market early to give partners time … based on what their certifications are today,” Flinders said. “If they are short anything or we see an opportunity for them to expand, we’ve got lots of time to work with them on that. … This is not all start-from-scratch and reinvest.”

NetApp partners recall that the company just updated its partner program in 2020. That’s the nature of the channel beast, frankly. Many companies frequently tweak their indirect approaches as technologies and business models evolve. This time, Partner Sphere will stand as the structure upon which any changes will be made, Flinders said.

“This will become the foundation of the future of partnering with NetApp,” she said. “It’s such a positive and exciting step for us.”

 

Oct 18

Oracle Cloud’s New Alloy Platform: A ‘Game Changer’ for Partners

By | Managed Services News

But, to be clear, Alloy is not for the “faint of heart.” It also puts heat on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.

ORACLE CLOUDWORLD — Oracle Cloud is making strides in its efforts to stand out as a hard-hitting alternative to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.

In fact, one of its announcements, unveiled Tuesday, puts those hyperscalers on notice, challenging them to “respond and do the same,” Sid Nag, vice president of cloud services and technologies at Gartner Research, told Channel Futures.

That announcement? Oracle Alloy.

Gartner's Sid Nag

Gartner’s Sid Nag

“This could be a game-changer,” Nag said.

Let’s Back Up

Before we dive into Oracle’s big cloud news this week, it’s appropriate to take a step back for context. After all, Oracle, while still small compared to the Big Three, is creeping up in terms of cloud market share. In its fiscal quarter that ended May 31, Oracle Cloud reported a 19% increase in revenue comprising infrastructure and platform as a service.

“I am thrilled about the strong growth we have seen across our entire portfolio of cloud applications and infrastructure,” Oracle CEO Safra Catz said in July.

To be sure, under Catz’s guidance, Oracle continues to move away from its legacy hardware and software roots. Part of that progress comes via public cloud services and infrastructure. (This includes transitioning on-premises database and application users to the cloud for that more lucrative recurring revenue stream.) In fact, even though Oracle’s cloud growth “has a lot of catching up to do to get to the level of its competitors,” as Futurum Research’s Daniel Newman and Todd Weiss put it, industry observers seem to agree: Oracle Cloud is well on its way to increasing its market share and revenue.

That’s not to say that Oracle Cloud stands to overtake the Big Three any time soon, or ever. The 45-year-old Oracle was not “born in the cloud.” Plus, its $900 million in cloud revenue has a long way to go to rival that of AWS’ nearly $20 billion. Instead of going all in on head-to-head competition with the hyperscalers, at least in the near future, Oracle looks best positioned to deliver cloud services and infrastructure alongside them.

Consider that Oracle Cloud already teams with AWS and Azure to make some offerings available and easier to deploy. This “coopetition” has turned into the norm throughout the tech sector, especially given the rise of the much-touted “ecosystem” mindset. Of interest, though, is that Oracle Cloud and Google Cloud do not – so far – partner. They actively try to take customers away from one another. Yet, there is speculation the two will announce a partnership deal at this week’s Oracle CloudWorld in Las Vegas.

Teaming up with fellow vendors makes sound financial sense. It opens a provider to more potential users. With Oracle, in particular, such strategies are paying off, even as the company strives to go up against the entrenched Big Three.

“The market can see this growth happening and is beginning to realize that this company isn’t playing,” Futurum Research’s analysts said. “The continued challenges it will pose to the incumbents will be interesting to watch.”

Interesting indeed. Keep reading.

Back to the Big News

Recall the quick nod to Oracle Alloy — and that Gartner’s Nag called it a “game-changer.” That’s not an overstatement. Alloy gives big channel partners – large managed service providers and system integrators, namely – the resources to become white-label cloud providers. On top of that, the platform adheres to persnickety sovereignty and governance requirements in regions including Europe. There, for example, the government mandates that only citizens can staff data centers. Oracle Alloy supports that.

Oracle Cloud's Leo Leung

Oracle Cloud’s Leo Leung

“It’s the amount of independence we’re providing,” Leo Leung, vice president of products and strategy at Oracle Cloud, told Channel Futures.

Don’t conflate Oracle Alloy with the company’s Dedicated Regions initiative. That differs because Oracle acts as the managed service provider.

With Oracle Alloy, on the other hand, partners run and staff their own data centers, only calling on Oracle if “significant” technology problems arise, Leung said. Outside of that happening, partners get the hardware and software they need to provision their own cloud services.

Oracle Alloy also comes with a services portal that has billing and invoicing tools, and customer relationship management. All of this can integrate into partners’ existing systems. From there, partners set their own rates and manage all the operations, meeting sovereignty specs along the way.

Why Oracle Alloy Now?

Given how business and the world are changing, now presented the right time for Oracle to launch Alloy, Leung said.

“There are so many countries and governments and industries that are not necessarily well served by the Chinese and U.S. providers,” Leung said.

The answer is for channel partners to act as cloud service providers in their own geographies.

“This is a huge opportunity,” Leung said.

Consider the possibilities. Oracle Cloud resides in 22 countries spanning five continents, and its data center region presence …

Oct 18

AT&T Partner Programs Eye Data-Driven Leads, Deal Registration

By | Managed Services News

Randall Porter this summer took responsibility for sales and partner management in three AT&T channel programs.

AT&T and its various channel programs are putting more investments into partner choice and enablement. This comes as the Dallas-based carrier doubles down on core competencies.

That statement comes from Randall Porter, who stepped into the role of  AT&T’s indirect channel lead this past summer. Porter, who oversees sales and partner management for the AT&T Partner Exchange, AT&T Alliance Channel and ACC Business programs, said AT&T will continue “leaning in heavily” into the indirect channel. He said the carrier will make updates to its partner portal and deal registration process in the upcoming quarters. He also said AT&T will give partners more intelligent data about potential customers.

“When we talk about leaning in more heavily to our partners, it really comes down to two things: providing them choice and providing enablement,” Porter told Channel Futures.

AT&T’s Randall Porter

Porter three months ago accepted the role of vice president, AT&T channel chief. That came amid a shift that more closely aligned AT&T Partner Exchange, Alliance Channel and ACC Business under Porter’s leadership. He reports to Sarita Rao, senior vice president, integrated and partner solutions at AT&T. Rao oversees those three AT&T channel programs, in addition to the wholesale and hyperscaler groups.

AT&T's Sarita Rao

AT&T’s Sarita Rao

Porter said AT&T forecasts an increasing reliance on partners for applications and managed services that complement AT&T’s investments in fiber and 5G.

“Given that opportunity for growth both in new and existing customers with partners, we felt like it was the right decision to pull the entire indirect ecosystem together under Sarita’s leadership,” he said.

Realignment

AT&T’s different partner programs have historically varied quite significantly. The Alliance Channel carries an association with the agent/advisor channel and teamed selling (although the program recently unveiled a non-teamed track and changed the way it differentiates between subagents and TSDs). ACC Business was historically associated with non-teamed sales and residual commissions. Partner Exchange (APEX) started in 2011 as a resale program for partners providing full management. Moreover, Porter said Alliance and ACC aligned directly with AT&T’s national business markets sales organization, co-selling into a large number of retail customers. Partner Exchange, on the other hand, aligned more closely with wholesale.

However, Porter said AT&T chose to change those alignments as it continued to grow its indirect efforts.

“As we developed a plan for growing indirect overall and ensuring that we had enough leadership and resources behind that to scale with our partners in the market, we chose to combine all of our indirect channels across [Partner Exchange], Alliance, ACC, wholesale and our hyperscalers,” he said.

Ongoing Investments

Poter said new capabilities like deal registration will bolster the partner experience. He said deal registration differs depending on the program.

“The intent of the strategy and capability is to ensure that regardless of your program, you have the ability to register a deal to either work that on your own, down a solo path, or if needed, work it in conjunction with our direct team from a co-sales standpoint. And so the automation and the linkage into your Salesforce systems would all be there to give the capability for that choice for the partner,” he said.

He also said AT&T plans to give partners more granular enablement that involves customer data.

“[We will be] getting a lot more intelligent with our data and our leads – tying that to …

Oct 18

AT&T Partner Programs Eye Data-Driven Leads, Deal Registration

By | Managed Services News

Randall Porter this summer took responsibility for sales and partner management in three AT&T channel programs.

AT&T and its various channel programs are putting more investments into partner choice and enablement. This comes as the Dallas-based carrier doubles down on core competencies.

That statement comes from Randall Porter, who stepped into the role of  AT&T’s indirect channel lead this past summer. Porter, who oversees sales and partner management for the AT&T Partner Exchange, AT&T Alliance Channel and ACC Business programs, said AT&T will continue “leaning in heavily” into the indirect channel. He said the carrier will make updates to its partner portal and deal registration process in the upcoming quarters. He also said AT&T will give partners more intelligent data about potential customers.

“When we talk about leaning in more heavily to our partners, it really comes down to two things: providing them choice and providing enablement,” Porter told Channel Futures.

AT&T’s Randall Porter

Porter three months ago accepted the role of vice president, AT&T channel chief. That came amid a shift that more closely aligned AT&T Partner Exchange, Alliance Channel and ACC Business under Porter’s leadership. He reports to Sarita Rao, senior vice president, integrated and partner solutions at AT&T. Rao oversees those three AT&T channel programs, in addition to the wholesale and hyperscaler groups.

AT&T's Sarita Rao

AT&T’s Sarita Rao

Porter said AT&T forecasts an increasing reliance on partners for applications and managed services that complement AT&T’s investments in fiber and 5G.

“Given that opportunity for growth both in new and existing customers with partners, we felt like it was the right decision to pull the entire indirect ecosystem together under Sarita’s leadership,” he said.

Realignment

AT&T’s different partner programs have historically varied quite significantly. The Alliance Channel carries an association with the agent/advisor channel and teamed selling (although the program recently unveiled a non-teamed track and changed the way it differentiates between subagents and TSDs). ACC Business was historically associated with non-teamed sales and residual commissions. Partner Exchange (APEX) started in 2011 as a resale program for partners providing full management. Moreover, Porter said Alliance and ACC aligned directly with AT&T’s national business markets sales organization, co-selling into a large number of retail customers. Partner Exchange, on the other hand, aligned more closely with wholesale.

However, Porter said AT&T chose to change those alignments as it continued to grow its indirect efforts.

“As we developed a plan for growing indirect overall and ensuring that we had enough leadership and resources behind that to scale with our partners in the market, we chose to combine all of our indirect channels across [Partner Exchange], Alliance, ACC, wholesale and our hyperscalers,” he said.

Ongoing Investments

Poter said new capabilities like deal registration will bolster the partner experience. He said deal registration differs depending on the program.

“The intent of the strategy and capability is to ensure that regardless of your program, you have the ability to register a deal to either work that on your own, down a solo path, or if needed, work it in conjunction with our direct team from a co-sales standpoint. And so the automation and the linkage into your Salesforce systems would all be there to give the capability for that choice for the partner,” he said.

He also said AT&T plans to give partners more granular enablement that involves customer data.

“[We will be] getting a lot more intelligent with our data and our leads – tying that to …

>