Explore every episode of the podcast Partnerships Unraveled
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bettina Vahl, Yubico | 29 Oct 2026 | 00:33:02 | |
Bettina Vahl, Vice President of Global Channels at Yubico In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Bettina Vahl, Vice President of Global Channels at Yubico, to talk about what it takes to build a global partner program from a standing start. Bettina joined Yubico as its first channel hire with no existing program in place, and has since grown the business to 80 percent channel worldwide. When Bettina joined Yubico, the company's channel was what she calls eclectic: a loose mix of resellers, distributors, and direct customers with no formal program behind it. Rebuilding it into a structured, global partner program taught her that consistency and transparency matter most, especially when a business is shifting away from selling direct. Because Yubico makes a physical product, the security key known as the YubiKey, she also found that the channel plays an outsized role simply getting hardware shipped and supported around the world, a role Bettina says the business could not have scaled without. Selling a hardware key that can last a decade creates a real challenge for partners built around repeat transactions, so Bettina and her team have focused growth on expanding protection from a handful of privileged users to an entire workforce, and on YubiKey as a Service, a subscription model that bundles the key with professional services, upgrades, and flexibility to add or replace keys over time. Because the YubiKey is a physical object, Yubico's brand also stays visible even when partners bundle it into their own white-labeled service stacks, something many software-only security vendors cannot claim. Bettina's approach to scaling globally, most recently with a new APAC headquarters in Singapore, is to build one consistent framework while giving partners the local language, culture, and relationships that customers actually trust. Key Takeaways Relationships Are What Keep People in the Channel Bettina didn't know what the channel was when she started, but she's stayed because of the relationships and friendships she's built with partners around the world, alongside a commercial model she finds more rewarding than purely transactional direct sales. A Hardware Product Makes the Channel Essential Because the YubiKey is a physical product that has to be shipped and supported globally, Bettina says the channel plays a far more visible and necessary role than it might for a software-only company. Yubico, she says, could not have scaled to its current size without it. Growth Comes From Expanding Coverage, Not Repeat Sales A YubiKey can last a decade, so growth for partners comes from expanding protection beyond a handful of privileged users to an entire workforce. Most large organizations that ended up securing every employee started with an order of ten keys, not a hundred thousand. YubiKey as a Service Builds Recurring Partner Revenue Yubico's subscription offering, called YubiKey as a Service, bundles the hardware with professional services, upgrades, and the flexibility to add or swap keys as teams change. It gives partners a way to move from a one-time hardware sale into an ongoing services relationship. Local Language and Culture Win Global Deals As Yubico expands into new regions, including its new APAC headquarters in Singapore, Bettina has learned that customers consistently prefer working with a trusted partner in their own language and time zone over a distant vendor representative. A consistent global framework still has to flex enough to respect those local differences. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Mark Ralls, Auvik | 27 Oct 2026 | 00:36:08 | |
Mark Ralls, President at Auvik In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Mark Ralls, President at Auvik, to talk about what it actually takes to keep marketing, sales, and customer success all pointed at the same partner outcome. Mark's background spans management consulting and fifteen years across software companies of every size, and that systems-thinking foundation still shapes how he leads today. Mark's approach to keeping teams aligned starts with a simple idea: speak the partner's language, not the internal one. Where many vendors lean on their own acronyms and a long list of product features, Mark pushes his teams to lead with the specific challenge a partner is facing and let the rest follow naturally. That same instinct for cutting through noise shapes how Auvik talks about AI. Instead of layering a chat interface onto its existing product and calling that AI, Auvik built specific tools around two concrete partner problems: the time sink of troubleshooting and the growth opportunities partners find hard to act on today. One example is an AI troubleshooting assistant built on retrieval-augmented generation, grounded in fifteen years of historical network data so a tier-one technician can resolve an issue without escalating it. Auvik's own IT trends report shows why that matters: even as companies keep increasing AI investment, only about 5 percent say AI is core to their operations today, and half still spend 10 to 20 hours a week handling tickets manually. Because networks involve so many different devices, Auvik also launched AI Device Lifecycle, giving partners clear, neutral data on aging equipment they can bring straight to their customers. As Auvik strengthens its channel leadership under newly promoted Chief Revenue Officer Danny Ochoa, Mark's guiding principle stays the same: partners run independent businesses with their own goals, and the job is to help them succeed on their own terms, not to serve as an extension of Auvik's sales team. Key Takeaways Speak Your Partner's Language, Not Your Own Mark pushes his teams to drop internal acronyms and long feature lists in favor of leading with the specific challenge a partner is facing. That single shift, he says, reduces the cognitive load that pushes partners toward whichever vendor is easiest to understand. Name the Friction Instead of Avoiding It. When Auvik and a partner aren't fully aligned, Mark's approach is to say so directly and work toward a middle ground, instead of pretending both sides can get everything they want. He calls it pointing out the elephant in the room before it causes real damage. AI Needs Proof Points, Not Just a Chat Box Auvik built its AI troubleshooting assistant around two concrete partner problems instead of simply adding a chat interface to its existing product. Grounding the tool in fifteen years of historical network data through retrieval-augmented generation gives partners tangible return on investment, not just an AI label. Most Companies Still Aren't Seeing AI's Return Auvik's own IT trends report found that despite growing AI investment industry-wide, only about 5 percent of respondents say AI is core to their operations, and half still spend 10 to 20 hours a week on manual ticket handling. Mark ties that gap directly to how heterogeneous networks make generic AI tools hard to apply. Help Partners Win on Their Own Terms Mark actively pushes back on the idea that partners are an extension of a vendor's sales team, arguing that framing centers the relationship on the vendor's success instead of the partner's independent business. His approach is to ask what challenge or opportunity a partner is facing and figure out how Auvik can help them grow. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| David Willis, Netskope | 22 Oct 2026 | 00:39:32 | |
David Willis, Vice President of Technology Alliances at Netskope In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with David Willis, Vice President of Technology Alliances at Netskope, to talk about what actually separates tech alliances from channel partnerships, and why both matter more than ever. David's path runs through the US Navy, AT&T, Riverbed, and Palo Alto Networks before landing at Netskope, and that range shows up in how he thinks about partnerships today. David credits his time in the US Navy with teaching him to build systems and checklists that hold up even as people rotate in and out, a skill that mattered as Netskope grew from 15 partners to more than 400. But tech alliances require more flexibility than the military ever did, since partners can become competitors and competitors can become partners through acquisitions and spinoffs. David compares the dynamic to NATO: everyone has some tension and overlap, but the group holds together because everyone is working toward the same larger goal, and being quick and honest about misalignment makes the whole ecosystem easier to navigate. David also draws a clear line between tech alliances and channel partnerships: both exist to multiply reach, but they run on completely different logic, and those lines are blurring fast as resellers increasingly build and sell their own products. On AI, David sees real acceleration, like replacing a lengthy integration guide with a single file a partner's system can read directly, but he's equally focused on the new problems it introduces, from managing the permissions of AI agents to establishing trustworthy ways to track where data actually came from as it moves between systems. David's advice for anyone building alliances right now is to keep the system simple and execute it consistently instead of chasing a perfect plan, and to treat every new tool the same way: build it, test it, learn from it, and move forward. Key Takeaways Good Systems Survive Every Personnel Change. David's military background taught him to build checklists and systems that survive personnel changes, a discipline that helped Netskope scale its alliance program from 15 partners to more than 400 with a relatively small team. Tech Alliances Run on NATO-Style Cooperation David describes the tech alliance world as full of tension and overlap, since today's competitor can become tomorrow's partner through an acquisition or spinoff. Everyone holds together because they're working toward the same larger goal, and being quick and honest about misalignment keeps the whole system workable. Tech Alliances and Channel Solve Different Problems Both exist to multiply reach, but David says they run on completely different logic, and those lines are blurring fast as resellers increasingly build and sell their own products. Quickly identifying whether a partner sells services, product, or both shapes how his team engages. AI Is Making Integrations Genuinely Faster David points to a concrete example: instead of handing a partner a lengthy SDK or CLI guide, his team can now give them a single file their system reads directly, saving days or weeks of manual translation work. New Tools Bring New Trust Problems As AI agents multiply, David is focused on questions the industry hasn't fully solved, like how to manage agent permissions responsibly and how to verify where data actually came from as it moves between systems. Speed without trust, he says, isn't much of a win. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Elise Carbone, Deltek | 20 Oct 2026 | 00:25:37 | |
Elise Carbone, Head of Global Partner and Alliances at Deltek In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Elise Carbone, Head of Global Partner and Alliances at Deltek, to explore how partnerships can make deals move faster. Her path ran through HR, consulting, and a startup that Deltek eventually acquired, giving her an unusual outsider's view of how channel and alliance work should really function. That outsider's view shows up most clearly in how she talks about trust. Years in consulting taught her a simple rule: do not lie during the sales process, because a partnership built on an oversold promise falls apart the moment delivery starts. She carries that same discipline into how Deltek evaluates artificial intelligence, starting with the business problem a partner or customer is actually trying to solve, then asking whether AI is the right answer for it. It is a deliberate sequencing, business need first and technology second, so partners are never sold a capability they cannot yet put to use. Elise applies the same precision to how Deltek builds its partner ecosystem, using an Ideal Partner Profile tailored to each vertical instead of one broad recruitment list, so the network stays small and genuinely useful instead of wide and thin. She brings partners into discovery calls early, before a deal is shaped, because the earlier a partner understands the customer's real problem, the more they can contribute. She is candid about the ego dynamics that surface in co-selling and treats partner-led and direct sales as the same game, just played with more people at the table. Her closing insight ties it together: after years of advocating mentorship for young talent, she has shifted to championing sponsorship, opening doors instead of just offering advice. As she puts it, sometimes you have to slow down in order to go fast. Key Takeaways
_________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Amanda Stewart, Microsoft - What Happens When AI Moves From Me To We | 13 Oct 2026 | 00:40:50 | |
Amanda Stewart, Americas Distribution Channels, Microsoft Teams Rooms Specialist at Microsoft In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Amanda Stewart, Americas Distribution Channels, Microsoft Teams Rooms Specialist at Microsoft, to talk about what happens when artificial intelligence moves from a personal tool to a team one. After more than 30 years across integration, distribution, and field sales, Amanda now helps build the distribution strategy behind Microsoft's fast-growing AI-powered workplace category. That range of experience shows up directly in how she designs partner programs today. Having worked inside an integration partner, a distribution company, and a hardware manufacturer before joining Microsoft, she understands the pressure partners feel to do more with fewer resources, and the pressure Microsoft feels to do the same. Her approach is to find the handful of business priorities where both sides can genuinely meet, instead of pushing a one-size-fits-all framework partners cannot use. That grounding, she says, is what let her step back into channel work with a deeper understanding of what actually drives partner success. Amanda joined Microsoft's distribution team for Teams Rooms devices as one of its first four people in North America, building the category from the ground up before it grew into the broader AI-powered workplace, spanning Teams, Teams Rooms, Teams Phone, and the Copilot layer that ties them together. That growth has opened the door to partner types she had never sold through before, including managed service providers, since roughly 70 percent of the remaining opportunity for Microsoft Teams customers sits in small and medium rooms, not the large, complex ones traditional integrators already serve well. Her closing thought reframes the AI conversation: adoption succeeds when it moves from personal productivity to team productivity, since impact compounds once colleagues build on each other's work. It's a simple shift that changes how a room gets things done together. Key Takeaways
_________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Pax8 Roadshow Special: Tim Coach, Cynomi | 06 Oct 2026 | 00:21:40 | |
Pax8 Beyond '26 Special – Tim Coach, Chief Evangelist of Community & Channels at Cynomi In this Pax8 Beyond '26 special edition of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Tim Coach, Chief Evangelist of Community and Channels at Cynomi, to talk about bringing a security platform to the channel. A former managed service provider (MSP) owner who spent two decades rebuilding MSPs, Tim brings a translator's instinct to every partner conversation. Tim's path started in engineering and internal IT before he took over an underperforming MSP, inheriting what he calls a lot of chaos. His military background gave him a simple lens: standards, processes, and procedures fix most of what goes wrong. He spent the next twenty years rebuilding and consulting with MSPs alongside a business partner, before friends in the vendor world convinced him to make the jump to the vendor side. He credits meeting Cynomi's founder at a Pax8 event, and seeing how the platform solved a bottleneck he had personally struggled with, for pulling him into security. Cynomi's AI agents, launched in April 2026, give every managed service provider a security dashboard that shows a client's real security posture for the first time, instead of a guess pieced together across a handful of tools. Tim is careful to frame this as compliance support, not a replacement for a chief information security officer (CISO): the platform lets less experienced staff handle a large share of the work, flag smart exceptions, and build an evidence repository, freeing the CISO to focus on strategy while creating a clear growth path for junior team members. His advice to partners echoes his own path: manage clients to a recognized security standard and compliance follows by default. Customers care about risk, revenue, and cost, not technical jargon, and translating value into those terms is what makes a partner trusted. Key Takeaways
_________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Danielle Simon - The Foundations for unlocking partner potential | 29 Sep 2026 | 00:25:11 | |
Danielle Simon, Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships at Actian In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Danielle Simon, Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships at Actian, to talk about what it means to build a partner ecosystem from nothing. With more than 15 years in strategic partnerships and alliances, the last decade focused on data, Danielle describes herself simply as a builder. Most of Danielle's career has been spent inside startups and scale-ups, where building a partner ecosystem means starting from an ideal customer profile and finding early partners willing to build market demand together, before that demand even exists. Her opening question to a prospective partner is simple: will you get in the market with me, and how can we help each other from day one? She has also become skilled at distilling a joint value proposition into a single sentence, spelling out exactly why two companies are stronger together and precisely when a salesperson should bring that partner into a deal. As data infrastructure has become the foundation for AI, Danielle has watched the market rationalize after an initial frenzy, landing on a simple idea: AI is the engine, but governed, secure data is the fuel. That shift has blurred what partners actually do, with resellers picking up services work and independent software vendors selling their own products, so she leans on regular cadence and a clear read on each partner's strengths, whether that is a particular cloud platform or a specific AI use case, to know exactly which partner to bring into which conversation. Danielle's advice echoes her own path: partnerships is a high-friction job most never fully understand, so find your community and keep learning from it, whether that's a program built around cocktails instead of tiers, or a global network like Women in Alliances. Key Takeaways
_________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Pax8 Roadshow Special: Jeannine Edwards, Cynet | 22 Sep 2026 | 00:22:36 | |
Pax8 Beyond '26 Special – Jeannine Edwards, Sr. Director, Marketing at Cynet In this Pax8 Beyond '26 special edition of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Jeannine Edwards, Sr. Director, Marketing at Cynet, to talk about building community in the channel and staying ahead of a threat landscape that moves faster every year. Jeannine spent roughly a decade at ConnectWise helping originate the idea of channel community, and she brings that same instinct to Cynet's partner ecosystem today. At ConnectWise, Jeannine was among the first people in the channel to hold a title built around community, running IT Nation in its early years and creating the company's invent program over roughly a decade there. She describes the real work of community as facilitation: connecting dots and building feedback loops that run both from partner to vendor and back again. At Cynet, an emerging vendor still early in its community journey, she recently helped stand up the company's first Partner Advisory Council, built to be actionable, not a showcase, so partner input can genuinely shift the roadmap. That community instinct meets a genuine urgency in Cynet's core pitch. Modern attacks rarely stay in one place, moving through an organization in fast, chaotic paths the moment a single click goes wrong, while adversaries increasingly use AI of their own to move even faster. Cynet's answer is a unified platform paired with a managed detection and response (MDR) team built from its own people, sharing the same context and intelligence as the technology itself, so it functions as an extension of a managed service provider's (MSP's) team, not a commodity add-on. Her closing advice is simple: don't let AI and security buzzwords wash over you. Understand what a vendor's claims actually mean for your business, lead with the customer's real pain point, and let that clarity be the differentiator. Key Takeaways
_________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Ep. 251 - A new approach to bridging the vendor-partner gap | 15 Sep 2026 | 00:40:38 | |
Ep. 251 – Larry Walsh, CEO & Chief Analyst at Channelnomics In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Larry Walsh, CEO and Chief Analyst at Channelnomics. After three decades studying how vendors and partners work together, Larry brings a data-driven, refreshingly clear-eyed view of what actually makes channel relationships thrive, and where the real opportunity for growth is hiding. Larry opens with a distinction that reframes the whole vendor-partner relationship: vendors tend to operate on narrative economics, describing value in ways people can believe, while most of the channel runs on vibe economics, things partners feel but can't always articulate. That gap is where misalignment creeps in. Larry shares an example of a vendor struggling with partner engagement, only to discover they were playing defense, protecting margin so tightly that the benefits weren't worth the effort. The fix isn't about equal treatment, it's about equilibrium: creating conditions where partners make money with a vendor, not on them. The conversation turns to friction in the go-to-market process, and Larry points to Channelnomics' own research on quoting: some partners wait three to five weeks for a quote, at a moment when customers expect Amazon-level speed. He also describes how partner programs accumulate like sedimentary layers, with policies piling up long after anyone remembers why they exist. His approach isn't chasing perfection, since that's expensive and never fully reachable, but building a continuous habit of asking whether a rule or process still earns its place, and removing what only adds drag for partners. Looking ahead, Larry sees the channel's role only deepening: less about moving boxes, more about becoming the connective tissue between vendor promises and customer outcomes, helping partners go further, faster, and with less risk. Key Takeaways: Equitable Outcomes Drive Partner Engagement Partners Earn Only When They Perform Quoting Speed Decides the Sale Probability Models Replace Guesswork With Strategy The Channel Keeps Evolving Into Trusted Advisors _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Dorian Kominek - Riding the Partner Rainbow | 08 Sep 2026 | 00:23:20 | |
In this special 250th episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Dorian Kominek, Channel Leader for the Zapier Solution Partner Program. After a decade as an entrepreneur and years building partner programs across services and SaaS, Dorian brings a refreshingly grounded view of what channel work actually is, and why humility might be its most overlooked skill. Dorian traces his path from a decade as an entrepreneur through partner programs in appliances and food service, and into the two years he has spent building Zapier's Solution Partner Program, a network of agencies that help customers automate their workflows. Along the way he picked up a philosophy he now leads with: human first, living close to the surface of who you are, with less pretense and more willingness to be vulnerable. Looking back at his years in traditional channel roles, he points to something tech could stand to learn: humility, and the discipline to get down to brass tacks and keep things simple. That same directness carries into how Dorian sees tech's partner ecosystem. Because SaaS products are intangible, lines of code rather than physical goods, companies have been free to get creative, building service partners, integration partners, and resellers across every hue of what he calls the partner rainbow. Bringing that kind of program into a company that grew through product-led growth took a different kind of case-making. Dorian frames building a channel function as an act of entrepreneurship, one that thrives when it rides alongside senior leadership's broader strategy from day one. With Zapier's own product evolving fast alongside AI, Dorian's approach is to stay iterative: lean on partners as eyes and ears, take small steps, and let the relationships, not the roadmap, lead the way. Key Takeaways: Human First, Not Just a Tagline Dorian's LinkedIn line, human first, describes people who live close to the surface of who they are, without the layers of pretense picked up over a career. He admits that living this way makes you more vulnerable, but says it feels more authentic and makes it easier to build things together with partners. Traditional Channel's Underrated Edge: Humility Before tech, Dorian ran distributor relationships at Miele and channel marketing at Compass Group, work he says keeps things refreshingly simple: a customer's dishwasher breaks, and the job is to offer real options. He believes tech does its best work when it carries that same directness forward, since the underlying job is still just one-to-many relationships built on people helping people. Every Hue on the Partner Rainbow Because software is intangible, just lines of code rather than a physical product, Dorian sees tech partnerships as far more inventive than the traditional distributor-and-installer model. Instead of a handful of fixed categories, companies can build service partners, integration partners, and resellers across, in his words, every hue of the rainbow, giving the episode its title. Treat Channel Building Like a Venture Dorian frames standing up a channel function as an act of entrepreneurship: small bets, fast iteration, and a willingness to take risks before the data fully proves the case. He notes that mature companies naturally lean managerial and protective of what they've built, so the programs that succeed are the ones that align closely with senior leadership's broader strategy. Staying Iterative When the Product Won't Sit Still With Zapier's product shifting quickly alongside AI, Dorian has learned to let go of trying to control every outcome. His approach now is to lean on partners as eyes and ears, take small steps, and build as the picture changes, without over-constructing a plan for a moment that may not last. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Pax8 Roadshow Special - Kyle Tatum | 01 Sep 2026 | 00:18:24 | |
In this special Pax8 Beyond '26 feature of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Kyle Tatum, Senior Channel Sales Manager at NordSecurity. Kyle leads new managed service provider recruitment for Nord and has been part of the channel program since its early days, giving him a first-hand view of how Nord scaled past a thousand partners while keeping the experience personal. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Evgenia Ostrovskaya - The unlock for navigating partner relationships | 25 Aug 2026 | 00:40:12 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Evgenia Ostrovskaya, Director of Channel Sales for EMEA Digital at Johnson Controls. With more than 25 years across software development, product, customer success, marketing, and sales, Evgenia brings a full-lifecycle view of what makes channel programs work in the smart and intelligent buildings space. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Partnerships Unraveled Ep. 248: David Turner, Nutanix | 20 Aug 2026 | 00:29:08 | |
Ep. 248 – David Turner, Distribution Leader for EMEA at Nutanix In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with David Turner, Distribution Leader for EMEA at Nutanix. With 26 years in the industry, split between distribution and vendor roles, David brings a rare view from both sides of the channel, and a clear sense of what actually makes partnerships work. David opens with what's stayed constant across his career: channel leadership is a people business, built on trust, a clear vision, and mutual profitability. What's changed is the complexity of the landscape, as customers increasingly look for orchestrated solutions instead of straightforward fulfillment. That's where segmentation comes in. Nutanix invests deeply in its strategic partners while working closely with distributors to spot the partners on the rise, especially in emerging areas like containers and generative AI. David is equally open about how much Nutanix leans on its partners' hard-won customer relationships, describing the philosophy simply: "we're borrowing the relationship," and treating it with real care. David also explores what it takes to lead across EMEA, embracing the unique character of each market it contains. Nutanix keeps its core program and value proposition consistent everywhere, then gives each region room to shape its own mix of partner types and commercial terms, whether that means system integrators, traditional resellers, or service providers. That same philosophy of choice carries into Nutanix's go-to-market: partners can build on the hardware, hypervisor, or cloud environment their customers already prefer, and can operate as both reseller and service provider at once, so the answer to "can you support this?" is almost always yes. Looking ahead, David sees distributors moving beyond fulfillment into transformation: orchestrating partner networks, sharing data, and enabling growth at scale. It's a shift that keeps the whole ecosystem, and its trusted relationships, moving forward together. Key takeaways: Trust and Profitability Anchor Great Channel Leadership. David points to two things that never change in channel leadership: genuine trust between people, and a shared focus on mutual profitability. The strongest leaders walk the walk, standing behind what they say and staying laser focused on making sure everyone understands their role and their share of the profit pool. Borrowing the Relationship, and Protecting It Like Your Own. David describes Nutanix's channel model simply: partners bring 20 to 30 years of customer relationships to the table, and Nutanix sees itself as borrowing that trust, not owning it. That means treating every partner-held relationship with real care, since the end customer belongs to the partner, not the vendor. Segmentation Creates Room for Both Scale and Discovery. David treats segmentation as the tool that makes room for both strategic, established partners and the ones just coming into their own. Deep investment goes to the large relationships that already know Nutanix's playbook, while distributors help identify partners on the rise in newer spaces like containers and generative AI. One Program, Many Markets: Consistency Meets Local Nuance. EMEA covers a huge range of mature and high-growth markets, and David embraces just how different they are. Nutanix keeps its core program and value proposition consistent everywhere, then lets each region choose its own mix of partner types, from system integrators to service providers, and adjust commercial terms where needed. Distribution Is Moving From Fulfillment to Transformation. David sees the distributor role evolving well beyond order processing into orchestrating the wider partner network. That means putting data to work, scaling enablement and training, and helping partners pivot toward new consumption models, positioning distribution as a genuine growth engine for the next few years. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Pax8 Roadshow Special - Gene Reich | 18 Aug 2026 | 00:17:25 | |
In this special Pax8 Beyond '26 feature of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Gene Reich, Cofounder and CEO at Traceless. Coming from more than two decades running an Apple-focused managed service provider, Gene brings an operator's view to a conversation about human communication security, the help desk as an emerging attack surface, and a security brand that leads with positivity. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Michael Roch - Real Strategies for Building Strong Ecosystems | 11 Aug 2026 | 00:40:18 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Michael Roch, Partnerships Advisor and Founder at MHPR Advisors. With 25 years advising senior leaders on partnerships, alliances, and ecosystems across professional services, life sciences, and technology, Michael brings a rare cross-sector view of what actually makes channel and alliance programs thrive. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Pax8 Roadshow Special - Ryan Sigouin | 04 Aug 2026 | 00:18:45 | |
In this special Pax8 Beyond '26 feature of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Ryan Sigouin, Chief Revenue Officer at ScalePad. With more than 20 years of managed service provider experience behind him, including running his own, Ryan brings a rare view of how software and operations actually work together, and where the biggest growth opportunities live for the partners on the front line. Ryan opens with the case that has been driving ScalePad's product strategy: managed service providers need a customer success platform of their own. The software as a service world is full of these tools, but the managed service space has never had one built specifically for how it operates. That gap matters, because Ryan sees the biggest missed opportunity in the industry sitting inside the existing client base. Chasing new clients in a market with 20 to 30 managed service providers per major city is expensive and slow. Expansion and retention within accounts already served is where higher margin and faster growth live. From there, Ryan gets into what a customer success platform for the managed service space actually looks like. In the software world, customer success has evolved from a human function into a data-driven one, with health scores built from product usage, ticket volumes, and other signals. Managed service providers have even more signals available: ticket tone, meeting transcripts, and years of relationship context. Most of that data lives across separate systems. ScalePad's focus is building the single source of truth for relationship information, giving account teams the context and playbooks to walk into every conversation prepared. Ryan closes on the wisdom that has anchored his whole career: retention and expansion drive stronger growth than chasing new clients. Get the referral program working, focus on the existing base, and the numbers follow. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Michal Jankech - The true partner playbook | 28 Jul 2026 | 00:38:20 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Michal Jankech, Vice President of Enterprise, Small Business, and Managed Service Provider Segments at ESET. With 16 years at ESET, a first decade in product management, and a strategic advisory role shaping how the company evolves, Michal brings rare depth across both technical and commercial perspectives to a conversation about what actually builds durable partnerships. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Pax8 Roadshow Special - Scott Sacket | 21 Jul 2026 | 00:17:38 | |
In this special Pax8 Beyond '26 feature of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Scott Sacket, Senior Vice President of Partner Strategy at AvePoint. With 19 years at AvePoint and a background as a former managed service provider, Scott brings a rare blend of vendor and channel perspectives on how partnership programs and data governance are evolving in the AI era. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Kirsten MacGregor - From Product to Partnership: Delinea's MSP bet | 14 Jul 2026 | 00:24:35 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Kirsten MacGregor, Global Head of Managed Service Providers at Delinea. Coming to Delinea after nearly eight years building the managed service provider motion at Riverbed and a career spanning networking, digital experience, and identity security, Kirsten brings a sharp perspective on building a program that fits how these partners actually operate. Kirsten opens with a framework she has carried across her career: people, process, and platform. Platform architecture is not a technical detail, she explains, but the foundation of the whole service model. Cloud-native design matters because the operational efficiency managed service providers need has to be built in from the start. Process has to reflect that these providers carry real service accountability, so vendor support, enablement, and escalation paths have to be designed with that in mind. And the human aspect anchors everything. The people a vendor puts in front of partners are what turn a program into a genuine partnership. That framework is what Delinea now has the chance to build on from scratch. Because the company hasn't run a true managed service provider program before, Kirsten is designing the commercial structure, support tiers, enablement, and pricing around how these partners actually operate. She also reframes the shift from reseller to managed service provider as a move from margin-pressured product sales to outcome-based partnerships. Identity has become the primary attack surface for enterprises, and continuous delivery through MSPs is a natural fit for the deeper relationships that model creates. Kirsten closes on where the strongest managed service providers will land in the next three to five years: leading with outcomes, governing the full identity estate across human, machine, and AI, and treating zero standing privilege as the baseline. It's a moment worth building for. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Jason Henry - The channel opportunity nobody talks about | 07 Jul 2026 | 00:29:06 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Jason Henry, Vice President of MSP Platform Sales for the Americas at Hornetsecurity. With three decades of enterprise sales leadership behind him and a mandate to build the Americas partner business from scratch, Jason brings a fresh lens to where the channel opportunity really lives. Jason opens with the story of Hornetsecurity's new chapter. After being acquired by Proofpoint late last year, the company is now making the small-to-medium business and managed service provider space a true focus, and Jason is leading the Americas build. His first 90 days have centered on two things: the people and the partners. Deep listening sessions with top partners have surfaced honest feedback on what is working and where the biggest opportunities sit. Partners, Jason has found, are genuinely invested in the mission, and that shared excitement is one of the strongest foundations to build a channel-first business on. From there, the conversation turns to where the space is heading. Jason makes the case that AI will have an even bigger impact on the small-to-medium business market than the enterprise, because it lets small businesses do more with far fewer resources. That opens up a real evolution for managed service providers, who are moving from technology support into a business consultant role for the founders and CEOs they serve. The providers who lean into this shift, deliver agent-based services, and lead their customers through the transformation are the ones set to capture the biggest opportunity of the next few years. Jason closes on what he's carried through three decades of sales leadership. Believe in your people, build great teams, support them well, and build the next generation of leaders. That's how the businesses that last actually get built. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Christina Tubb - The channel partner as your local bodyguard | 02 Jul 2026 | 00:25:29 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Christina Tubb, Americas Director of Regional Alliance Managers at Ping Identity. With a career spanning theoretical physics, private equity, consulting, and channel leadership across ten countries, Christina brings a wide-lens view of what it takes to build partnerships that connect vendors directly to end customers. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Pax8 Roadshow Special - Phylip Morgan | 30 Jun 2026 | 00:20:42 | |
In this special Pax8 Beyond '26 feature of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Phylip Morgan, Senior Vice President of Marketplace and Channel Expansion at Pax8. A former managed service provider and 30-year channel veteran, Phylip is leading Pax8's work helping partners transform from managed service providers into managed intelligence providers. Phylip opens with the case for why the managed intelligence shift is a revolution, not an evolution. Borrowing Scott Chason's framing, he positions this as the same kind of cataclysmic change as steam, electricity, the PC, and the cloud, with AI delivering cognitive power the industry has never had before. The proof point is what's already happening: models are getting better, hallucinations are receding from the conversation, and practical use cases are stacking up. At the same time, Phylip is clear that partners have options, and there's still a real living to be made in break-fix and traditional managed services. From there, the conversation reframes the partner role as a trusted advisor evolving from technology advisor into business advisor, with managing intelligence risk and governance, risk, and compliance around digital agents as part of the new job description. Phylip shares a Welsh example of two managed service providers who decided their best play was to partner with a managed intelligence provider, which opens a discussion about partner ecosystems where everyone builds around their strengths. He also walks through two market shifts: the digital buyer who prefers apps to conversations, and the death of brand, where reputation and shared values matter more than the logo at the bottom of a website. Phylip closes with practical counsel for the partner community. Regret is a terrible thing, so take the time to look at the opportunity, do the research, and come to your own conclusions. As he puts it, lead with humanity and scale with AI. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Pax8 Roadshow Special - Gene Kim | 25 Jun 2026 | 00:11:52 | |
In this special Pax8 Beyond '26 feature of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Gene Kim, Vice President of Managed Service Providers at Absolute Security. With a career spent on both sides of the channel as a service provider and now leading Absolute's MSP motion, Gene brings a grounded view of what MSPs need to deliver real business continuity in an AI-driven world. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Pax8 Roadshow Special - Nihil Morjaria | 23 Jun 2026 | 00:16:47 | |
In this special Pax8 Beyond '26 feature of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Nihil Morjaria, Chief Revenue Officer at usecure. With almost eight years at the company across nearly every sales role and a background in psychology, Nihil brings a thoughtful perspective on what it takes to build a channel-first cybersecurity business where the human element matters as much as the technology. Nihil starts with the story of usecure's pivot to channel-first after more than three years of selling direct. The biggest commercial challenge was getting internal reps to embrace what looked like a margin hit in the short term, in exchange for something much bigger: scale through partners acting as outsourced sales functions. He frames the channel as a force multiplier where commission grows alongside the partner network, and shares how doing the groundwork to align reps before the shift was what made it stick. The right partners, he says, are the ones with supplementary resources who become active extensions of the team. From there the conversation gets into how Nihil's psychology background shapes everything from go-to-market messaging to product. usecure's expertise helps MSPs translate the abstract topic of human risk into real, tangible conversations with their customers. That same lens sits behind the launch of uHealth, a new piece of usecure's human risk intelligence program. By integrating with Entra to pull real signals around services people sign up for, MFA setup, and password reuse, uHealth turns isolated training scores into a tailored view of how each person actually behaves, with clear remediation steps MSPs can deliver as outcome-driven service. Nihil closes on the value of the channel as a community, where honest conversations about real challenges are what help everyone grow. As he puts it, it takes a village. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Thomas Christensen - Win-Win-Win | 18 Jun 2026 | 00:42:43 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Thomas Christensen, Vice President of Partner Ecosystem NCEE at IBM. Thomas has 30 years in the industry across all three layers of the channel, as a reseller, in distribution, and as a vendor, and now leads IBM's partner ecosystem across 35 countries in Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe. That breadth of experience gives him a perspective on ecosystems that is hard to replicate. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Sam Valme - The secret power of channel evangelism | 16 Jun 2026 | 00:40:28 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Sam Valme, Channel Evangelism Director of Americas at AvePoint. Sam has spent 13 years at AvePoint moving through solution engineering, sales, partner program design, and MSP sales leadership, building the kind of institutional knowledge that made the channel evangelism role possible. This episode is about what that role actually is, and why it matters. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Elisabeth De Dobbeleer & Jason Gallo - Cisco 360 Partner Program Deep Dive | 11 Jun 2026 | 00:36:05 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, host Rick van den Bosch sits down with Elisabeth De Dobbeleer, Senior Vice President of Global Programs, and Jason Gallo, Global Vice President of Partner Value Acceleration, both at Cisco. Together they walk through the design and launch of Cisco 360, the most significant overhaul of Cisco's partner program in more than two decades. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Faraz Siraj - The Golden Doodle Effect | 09 Jun 2026 | 00:28:46 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Faraz Siraj, Vice-President of Global Channels & Alliances at Fortra. With 30 years in technology, 16 of them focused entirely on the channel, and experience at Cisco, RSA, Code42, and now Fortra, Faraz brings a long-range perspective on what makes channel programs actually work. Faraz opens with a framework that has guided his career: the Four T's. Technology comes first, because nothing in the channel works without a strong product. Transparency follows, chosen deliberately over "trust" because Faraz sees transparency as the active ingredient, the commitment to sharing wins, setbacks, and the full journey with your partners. Third is 3 Times growth, a number he describes as realistic and achievable in cybersecurity, especially with a portfolio as broad as Fortra's. The fourth T is Together, reflecting his belief that no vendor can effectively serve the modern threat landscape alone. Fortra does not do services and advisory. Partners do. That relationship is not a gap in the model but the heart of it. On the process of building a channel program, Faraz is direct: it takes time. His benchmark is three years, with 18 months as the minimum before meaningful results appear. He compares it to a body transformation, requiring consistent effort, small wins measured along the way, and patience with a long-term goal. The red flag he watches for most is treating partners as fulfillment, bringing them in at the end of a deal to sign paperwork. Real partnership means joining the sales cycle from the beginning, understanding what the partner needs in return, and building a relationship that lasts beyond the transaction. The energy that keeps Faraz going after three decades in this business: winning together. One-to-many beats one-to-one every time. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Barry Russell - The open-source foundation of every AI partnership | 04 Jun 2026 | 00:26:45 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Barry Russell, Senior Vice-President of Partnerships at Anaconda. Barry helped build AWS Marketplace from a two-pizza team into a global business, spent time at Microsoft and several data-space startups, and has spent just over a year at Anaconda translating that experience into how AI solutions reach enterprise customers at scale. Barry opens with the principle he carried directly out of AWS Marketplace: remove as much friction as possible between where the customer is and the outcome they are trying to reach. At Marketplace, that meant letting customers try software quickly before committing to a multi-year contract. In the AI era, he sees the same dynamic: enterprises want to deploy agents fast, prove they deliver the outcome, and move confidently into production. Anaconda ensures that the open-source components developers use to build AI applications are secure by default, so teams can move from experimentation to production without hitting security roadblocks along the way. What is actually breaking between POC and production comes down to two things: system dependencies that work in a dev environment often do not match what production needs, and CISO teams flagging vulnerability concerns in open-source components. Anaconda addresses both by ensuring the assets a team uses in experimentation carry into production unchanged, with ongoing visibility into vulnerabilities. Barry draws a practical distinction: it is completely fine to discover that an AI application needs a different model or some adjustment. What organizations cannot afford is releasing agents carrying underlying security vulnerabilities. Getting the foundation right from the start is what makes fast, confident iteration possible. With 95% of the Fortune 500 already using Anaconda for data science and machine learning, the company arrives at the AI moment as a trusted workflow layer, ready to help customers close the gap between experimentation and production at the pace the market demands. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Eltjo Hofstee - Unraveling the MSP to MIP journey | 02 Jun 2026 | 00:23:16 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Eltjo Hofstee, Global Sales Director at EasyDMARC. Eltjo joined nearly four years ago with a clear brief: build a scalable sales organization around a product with strong market fit. That journey has taken him deep into how MSPs grow, sell, and redefine the value they bring to end customers. Eltjo opens with a concept reshaping how EasyDMARC thinks about its partner program: the shift from managed service provider to managed intelligence provider. The idea, which Eltjo credits to Pax8, moves MSPs away from SLA-driven metrics toward a more proactive, data-informed advisory role. MSPs already sit on a significant amount of customer data, and using that data to get ahead of issues is what separates a vendor from a genuine partner. EasyDMARC's own program reflects this: the company now helps MSPs not just deploy DMARC, but find new customers and sell adjacent services. DMARC generates an XML report for every email sent from a protected domain, and those reports tend to reveal more than end users expect. Organizations that assume they are too small to be targeted routinely discover, once they set up DMARC, that their domain is being impersonated constantly. The data also surfaces shadow IT, such as a marketing tool sending emails from an unconfigured source. That ongoing visibility is what keeps EasyDMARC relevant after initial setup: MSPs can build a proactive early warning system that adds clear, measurable value to every end customer conversation. What ties it together is a shift in orientation: from fixing problems to anticipating them. That is where the MSP role finds its next level of relevance. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Remco van Dijk - The benefits of an entrepreneurial channel mindset | 26 May 2026 | 00:30:38 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Remco van Dijk, Channel Leader for Northern Europe at Varonis. Remco joined Varonis to build the Northern European channel from the ground up. Remco opens with what the scale-up feeling inside a 20-year-old company actually looks like in practice. With no dedicated sales teams across Scandinavia and Finland when he arrived, the first task was building focus: fewer partners, deeper relationships, more business per partner. He explains how the right partner model depends on the product as much as the market. Varonis's data security platform suits a high-touch, co-sell approach. Interceptor, their email security solution, could support a distributor-led model with a far broader reseller base. His advice for any new channel leader: resist the urge to apply a familiar playbook. Start by listening, ask what partners need, and never be the “department of no” when a partner asks for something new. Cultural nuance shapes how that plays out across Northern Europe. In Sweden, partners often act as trusted advisors. If they haven't heard of Varonis, deals could stall before they start. The Netherlands runs more transactionally; Belgium leans on relationship and trust first. Remco's approach across all of them: think like a sales manager, treat your partners as your ears and eyes, and stay genuinely top of mind through consistent contact. Partners who work through a complete sales cycle together build something repeatable, and that depth is what separates a real channel program from a collection of one-off transactions. What holds it all together is simple: partnerships are human relationships first. The organizations that win in the channel show up consistently, navigate friction without panic, and invest genuinely in the people behind their partnerships. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Kris Blackmon - Beyond campaigns: partner marketing unlocked | 19 May 2026 | 00:23:07 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Kris Blackmon, Director of Global Partner Marketing at AvePoint. Coming from channel journalism at The Var Guy and content leadership at Channel Futures before moving into her current role, Kris brings a perspective on partner marketing that's genuinely hard to find. Perspective that is built from years of watching the channel from every angle before stepping inside it. Kris opens by reframing what partner marketing actually is. Her remit at AvePoint spans enablement, the partner program, product marketing, and to-and-through execution. Her point is that you can't pull one lever in isolation. A strong campaign with a weak program behind it answers its own question. She also talks through how global strategy and regional field execution divide the work. Global sets direction and builds assets. Field teams localize, execute, and carry accountability for results in market. Sales alignment holds it all together. AvePoint's roadmap to 2030 gives that alignment a clear spine. The second half focuses on AvePoint's partner program redesign. The original tiered model rewarded revenue almost exclusively, a lagging indicator that told the team nothing about what actually built toward a sale. Eighteen months of design, piloting, and iteration produced a points-based program that rewards partners across certifications, co-marketing activity, lead generation, and more. Kris explains how clean data makes it possible to show partners concretely why deeper engagement leads to better outcomes for both sides, and why redesigning the partner portal UI was just as important as the program structure itself. The frontier she's most focused on: gaining real visibility into through-partner marketing activity before deal registration arrives. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Razvan Todor - The secret power behind cybersecurity at scale | 12 May 2026 | 00:27:18 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Razvan Todor, VP Strategic Partnerships & Alliances – CSG at Bitdefender. Razvan brings a rare lens to channel work: a product leader who shifted from owning roadmaps to architecting ecosystems that protect users at population scale through telcos, ISPs, and insurance providers. Razvan starts with what it actually takes to move from millions of users to hundreds of millions: ecosystems, not sales acceleration. He draws a clean line between channel and strategic partnerships based on who owns the end customer. When Bitdefender owns the customer, it's channel; when the partner does, it becomes a strategic alliance where both companies co-create value inside the partner's portfolio. That shift changes the conversation entirely. The negotiation stops being about margin and becomes about direction, priorities, and where both organizations want to be three to five years from now. Scale also makes the product stronger. The more customers Bitdefender protects, the more threats it sees, and the faster it can cluster patterns like the California bridge toll scam that adapts its message by geography. Razvan also reframes the old debate between brand equity and partner-led distribution as two sides of the same success story. Strong brand makes signing new partners easier; big partners make the product sharper and lift recognition. The board-level question becomes how to maximize both together. On AI and deepfakes, Razvan is thoughtful: detecting that something is fake matters less than understanding the intent behind it. Cats dancing on Snoop Dogg and a fake Elon Musk stock tip are technically identical. The future of consumer cyber security is guaranteeing trust and authenticity. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Andy Yen - The Human Edge in High-Stakes Partnerships | 05 May 2026 | 00:26:35 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Andy Yen, Director of Partner Marketing for Global System Integrators at ServiceNow. Drawing on seven years at ServiceNow across ISVs, hyperscalers, and now some of the world's largest consulting firms, Andy shares what makes high-stakes partnerships work, and why the human side of the job is becoming a bigger advantage, not a smaller one. Andy starts with what a global mindset really looks like in partner marketing. Each country has its own language, its own business culture, and the real opportunity comes from building genuine relationships market by market. He also shares how he adapts his communication style to each person, not just each persona, and why that human-first approach has helped him build trust with partners across regions. We also get into what makes a GSI partnership thrive. Andy describes how he builds joint value props where one plus one is greater than ten, creating the kind of stories that pull ServiceNow into deals alongside its partners. He shares how ServiceNow's industry GTM motion has opened up bigger conversations, with partners and account executives moving from product features to outcomes that resonate in the C-suite. The result is broader engagement, larger deals, and a more collaborative model across the ecosystem. Andy closes with a reminder that feels even more relevant in the AI era: authenticity is your greatest strength, and the best partnerships are still built on real human connection. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Nevzat Bucioglu - Building no-bull**** partnerships | 28 Apr 2026 | 00:36:54 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Nevzat Bucioglu, Channel and Alliance Director for EMEA Central at Commvault. He leads the channel business across DACH and Poland and has been in IT since 1996, moving through inside sales, sales coaching, and pre-sales before stepping into the channel in 2013. His early years cold-calling at Dell still shape how he approaches partner relationships today. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Erica Radcliff - Tailoring Partner Engagement at Scale | 21 Apr 2026 | 00:22:29 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Erica Radcliff, Director of Partner and Ecosystem Growth Marketing at Vertiv, to explore what it really takes to activate partners at scale without losing relevance. With nearly two decades in the channel, Erica has worked across almost every facet of marketing, giving her a practical, end-to-end view of how partner engagement actually plays out in the real world. The conversation starts with a simple but often ignored truth: what marketers think is compelling rarely matches what partners actually want. Erica explains why keeping an open mind and constantly pressure-testing your assumptions is critical, especially as trends cycle in and out. From the surprising resurgence of tactile, creative campaigns to the steady decline of webinars, she shares what’s gaining traction and what’s quietly fading. We then get into one of the biggest challenges in partner marketing today: balancing scale with personalization. Erica breaks down how her team approaches this through segmented journeys rather than one-size-fits-all campaigns. Instead of over-engineering full customization, they build flexible frameworks and equip partners with ready-to-use assets they can adapt to their own customers. The result is a model that scales while still feeling relevant. The discussion also digs into partner activation. Strong products aren’t enough. Partners need clear direction, accessible resources, and a reason to engage. Erica highlights the importance of recruiting the right partners from the start, aligning on mutual value, and enabling them based on their actual capability and market focus. We also explore the difference between leading the market and chasing it. Erica argues that companies in the number one position often lose their creative edge, while challengers are forced to innovate. Her advice is clear: even if you’re leading, operate like you’re not. Finally, Erica reflects on the role of relationships in an increasingly data-driven world. AI and intent data can guide decisions, but they don’t replace trust. The channel still runs on human connection, and the teams that recognize that are the ones that win. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Matt Walker - Channel Sales Best-Practices Across Cultures | 14 Apr 2026 | 00:29:32 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Matt Walker, Head of Distribution for EMEA and LATAM at Everpure, to unpack what channel success looks like when you’ve worked every side of the ecosystem. Matt’s path into the role started in telemarketing, moved through the reseller and distributor world, and eventually into vendor leadership. That journey gives him a practical view of the channel that is hard to fake. He has lived the pressure of cold outreach, the complexity of partner motions, and the realities of building pipeline through indirect routes. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Tony Poer - The Evolution of Partnerships in CX | 07 Apr 2026 | 00:35:44 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Tony Poer, Director of Channel CX Programs at 8x8, to dig into a problem most channel teams recognize but rarely fix: partners are overloaded with information, yet still underprepared to sell. Drawing from his shift out of sales engineering and into the channel, Tony explains why the real unlock is better translation, not better content. Turning recurring customer challenges into simple, repeatable ways for partners to engage is where scale actually happens. The conversation quickly shifts from theory into what actually works in practice. Tony explains why traditional enablement formats like feature walkthroughs, product-heavy webinars, and static portals rarely land, and what works better instead: customer-led conversations, strong discovery, and guidance that reflects how people really sell. We also get into the reality of current partner ecosystems. Not all partners are equal, and treating them as such slows everything down. Segmenting by capability and intent, then adjusting how you support each group, is what separates programs that grow from those that stall. AI enters the conversation not as a buzzword, but as a tool to sharpen thinking. Tony shares how 8x8 uses AI internally to build “value maps” that evolve with every interaction, bringing together customer context, past deals, and live signals to guide better decisions. But the strongest point lands elsewhere: partners who win are the ones willing to push back. Customers often ask for solutions shaped by outdated systems. The job is to challenge that, uncover the real issue, and solve the problem that actually matters. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Catarina Martins - (Un)learning Lessons in Channel Marketing | 31 Mar 2026 | 00:27:21 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Catarina Martins, Global Channel Marketing Director at Schneider Electric, to unpack what strong marketing looks like when the route to market is anything but direct. Drawing on experience across Samsung, Google, and now global channel marketing at Schneider, Catarina shares why good marketing is still built on the same fundamentals, even when the buyer journey becomes more complex. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Jon Kane - Scaling Genuine Partnerships & Alliances | 24 Mar 2026 | 00:37:58 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Jon Kane, Senior Director for Europe & Major Channel Sales at Forcepoint. With nearly 30 years spent entirely in the channel, John shares why partner relationships aren’t built deal-by-deal… They’re built on trust, reputation, and the long game. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Varshaa Pallaath - Intentionality & Engagement in Partner Marketing | 17 Mar 2026 | 00:32:36 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Varshaa Pallaath, Director of Global Customer and Partner Marketing at ConnectWise, to unpack what partners actually need right now and how vendors can support them in a market that is shifting fast. Drawing on years of experience across startups, scale, acquisition, and global partner marketing, Varshaa shares a grounded view of what is driving partner decisions today: team efficiency, customer trust, and the ability to grow with intention. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Adam Winston - Balancing Vision & Execution in Cybersecurity | 10 Mar 2026 | 00:40:27 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Adam Winston, Field CTO at WatchGuard. From scaling a services business to $12M in annual revenue to driving innovation at WatchGuard, Adam shares what it really takes to build trust when you are in an industry as high-stakes as security. Channel professionals will hear a candid take on the uncomfortable truths that shape partner programs. How financial perspectives shape the reality of the channel. Why vendors burn goodwill when they push “specials” that feel like leftovers. And what it looks like to design partner engagement around MSP economics, not product slides. Adam also breaks down practical enablement tactics like the “placemat strategy,” plus where he sees the biggest opportunity for MSPs over the next 3 to 5 years as AI changes the work and consolidation accelerates. Expect sharp stories, operator-grade advice, and ideas you can apply to partner strategy right away. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Kevin Rasdale - Understanding the Channel SE Role | 03 Mar 2026 | 00:16:18 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Kevin Rasdale, a veteran Channel Sales Engineer (SE) with over a decade of experience supporting partner ecosystems at top vendors like Dell, Varonis, and more. Kevin pulls back the curtain on the often misunderstood role of the channel SE, outlining its strategic importance in deal qualification, partner empowerment, and technical sales success. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Bill Bellano - Rebuilding Trust and Scaling Smart | 24 Feb 2026 | 00:12:26 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Bill Bellano, U.S. Channel Leader at Proofpoint, whose 15+ years of experience across cybersecurity vendors like Fortinet, Bitdefender, and SonicWall have shaped a dynamic, on-the-ground view of channel evolution. Bill shares actionable insights on re-establishing partner trust, scaling smart in underserved commercial segments, and building high-performing channel teams in today’s outcomes-first market. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Dave Allen - Inside Akamai's New Partner Program | 17 Feb 2026 | 00:14:23 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Dave Allen, Vice President of Geo Sales and Partner Sales at Akamai, to explore the strategy and innovation behind Akamai’s newly revamped Partner Connect Program. With decades of channel experience, Dave shares the methodology behind designing a partner program from the ground up one that reflects today’s evolving channel landscape and Akamai’s partner-first mindset across security, compute, and edge infrastructure. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Jessica McDowell - The 2026 Channel Forecast | 10 Feb 2026 | 00:20:30 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we welcome back Jessica McDowell, VP of North America Marketing and Digital Strategy at TD SYNNEX, to unpack the findings of the newly released Direction of Technology 2026 Report. Drawing on insights from more than 1,400 partners across 40 countries, this conversation explores what will truly define partner success in the years ahead. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Rebecca Javens - The Framework for Partner Focus | 03 Feb 2026 | 00:28:26 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Rebecca Javens, Director of Channels for the Americas at Cisco’s ThousandEyes, to explore her journey from direct sales into the complex world of channel partnerships. With decades of experience in some of tech's most channel-centric companies, Rebecca offers a compelling perspective on partner enablement, strategic channel growth, and what it takes to build thriving partner ecosystems. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Olivia Donnell - Channel Growth Lessons | 27 Jan 2026 | 00:24:39 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Olivia, Channel Director at 1Password and a seasoned channel leader with over 25 years of experience across distribution, vendors, and MSP ecosystems. Olivia brings a multi-dimensional perspective to how successful channel programs are built by grounding in partner needs, strategic alignment, and the evolving role of distribution. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Signe Holm - Driving Co-Sell Success with Microsoft | 22 Jan 2026 | 00:14:10 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we sit down with Signe Holm, Partner Solution Sales Manager at Microsoft, to explore what it takes to drive successful co-sell motions between ISVs and Microsoft. Signe shares proven insights into seller-to-seller alignment, partner enablement, and leveraging Microsoft’s evolving marketplace strategy. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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| Bilel Kouider - The Future of MDF Lessons from Web3 Models | 20 Jan 2026 | 00:20:46 | |
In this episode of Partnerships Unraveled, we dive into the future of channel incentives with Bilel Kouider, Global Director of Marketing Development at HP and author of a forward-thinking white paper on Web3 in the channel. Bilel brings deep expertise at the intersection of emerging technologies and partner ecosystems, with a clear vision for how decentralization, blockchain, and AI can revolutionize MDF programs. _________________________ https://channext.com/ Watch on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@channext
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