THE CHANNEL FACTOR
CEO Support Is The Cornerstone Of Channel Success By Jennifer Follett
O NE SUREFIRE WAY TO TELL how dedicated a com- pany is to its channel partners is to gauge how committed its CEO is to its indirect sales strategy. As the CEO goes, so goes the channel. In the 25-plus years I’ve spent cover- ing the channel as a reporter and editor for CRN , I’ve interviewed a good num- ber of them and have also heard them
for it, particularly from their strategic partners. Every year CRN publishes its list of the Top 100 Executives, which you’ll find inside this issue. It includes our list of the 25 Most Influential, comprised of the IT industry CEOs who have done the most over the past year to drive the direction of the channel. For 2023, our selection for the No. 1 Most Influential executive is Nikesh Arora, CEO of PaloAlto Networks, who
address their partners at their own conferences and at ours. It’s always invigorating when a CEO can delve right in to paint a vivid picture of the value the company gets from its channel and the value its partners provide back to it, dem-
has distinguished himself as someone who fully embraces the concept of disruption, both of the security industry as a whole and of the company itself. He also communicates clearly (and regularly) to his partners
onstrating a clear understanding of the challenges partners face and the ways the vendor can help the channel overcome those hurdles, to mutual benefit. The fact is, channel-engaged CEOs know that leveraging the services mus- cle of partners is the key to driving sales growth and customer satisfaction. Channel-engaged CEOs know part-
about the opportunities on the horizon and what solution providers need to do in order to capture them. Arora has made it a strategic prior- ity to take an active role to make sure the channel is firing on all cylinders. That means developing unbreakable relationships with partners that power big sales growth. Building those unbreakable relation-
It’s critical for CEOs to communicate to the channel on a regular basis to provide assurance that the foundation is solid and that the vision is clear.
ners have a choice as to where to deploy their sales and technical talent, so they make sure their companies put in place the right programs, tools and resources needed to drive growth with partners. Once the channel strategy and investments are in place, the most channel-savvy CEOs dedicate a significant percentage of their time to engaging with partners to make sure that any roadblocks to channel success are removed. That comes from being in touch with partners day to day to resolve any issues holding up a sale, from supply chain delivery to channel conflict issues. That hands-on CEO channel commitment is the difference between channel excellence and channel mediocrity. The sales organization takes its cues from the CEO. If the CEO does not make sure there are robust channel sales incentives, sales align- ment and clear rules of engagement, then the direct sales team runs roughshod over partners. That’s why it’s critical for CEOs to communicate to the chan- nel on a regular basis to provide assurance that the foundation is solid and that the vision is clear. Solution providers are hungry
ships with partners requires CEOs to spend time with partners face to face to get feedback on what’s working and what’s not in the sales trenches. One of the premier vehicles for getting that partner feed- back and winning channel share is CRN parent The Channel Company’s Best of Breed (BoB) conference, which is attended by the channel’s most elite solution providers. Over the last decade-plus, the BoB conference has spotlighted on-stage CRN interviews with the most prominent channel- savvy vendor CEOs in the industry. This year’s BoB Conference in Atlanta will feature IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, Nutanix CEO Rajiv Ramaswami and SentinelOne CEO Tomer Weingarten live and in person. I hope you can join us there for another great of example of top executives understanding the value of communicating with partners. n BACKTALK: Do you have a good story about how a vendor CEO has helped your solution provider business succeed? Share it with me at jfollett@thechannelcompany.com.
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AUGUST 2023
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