The burning question for solution providers today is how to navigate a broken supply chain that keeps putting obstacles in their way. Here’s how some have forged ahead and created stronger customer relationships in the process.
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All businesses are looking to better manage and analyze their data. Here are 10 big data offerings that can help.
36 Hitting The Bull’s-Eye Check out the 41 solution providers that achieved the feat of being recognized on 2022’s Solution Provider 500, Fast Growth 150 and Tech Elite 250 lists—turning them into Triple Crown winners.
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The burning question for solution providers today is how to navigate a broken supply chain that keeps putting obstacles in their way. Here’s how some have forged ahead.
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As the volume of data explodes, businesses are looking for more e ective ways to manage and analyze it. Here are 10 new big data o erings that can help.
By Rick Whiting
Alteryx Analytics Cloud is a cloud-based analytics automation platform that brings analytical insight to a broad swath of users throughout a business or organization. The browser-accessible cloud service combines Alteryx Designer Cloud, Alteryx Machine Learning, Alteryx Auto Insights and the Trifacta Data Engineering Cloud in one unified offering. The service is based on the company’s flagship Alteryx Analytic Process Automation Platform that unites data analytics, data science and process automation in a single system with low-code/no-code capabilities.
DataStax Astra Streaming is an advanced, fully managed messaging and event streaming service that provides data streaming, queueing and publish/subscribe capabilities and unifies data-in-motion for large-scale real-time applications. Astra Streaming is built on Apache Pulsar, a nextgeneration streaming technology. It offers built-in API-level support for Kafka, RabbitMQ and Java Message Service and utilizes the necessary event semantics to address all data types.
Incorta extended the capabilities of its flagship business analytics platform with new data applications—prebuilt analytic content and integrations— that provide real-time operational analytics using data collected from enterprise applications. The new data applications work with ERP, financial and human resources management systems from Oracle, SAP and Workday. Incorta also offered a new component SDK that partners can use to build custom data applications, data visualizations and other analytical content.
Kyligence Zen is an intelligent metrics store that helps businesses and organizations align business goals and key metrics. The system automates data pipelines from data lakes or data warehouses to a multidimensional OLAP database to deliver consistent metrics and trusted data in a costeffective way. Kyligence Zen is built on top of Kyligence’s high-performance OLAP platform and leverages its AI-augmented engine to automatically identify datasets and metrics.
The new edition is a cloud-native, no-code data ingestion platform that provides integrated capabilities across both batch loading and real-time change data capture pipelines. The release simplifies data ingestion processes, lifts the burden of coding and maintaining data pipelines, accelerates time-to-insight, and helps manage data integration costs with a consumption-based pricing model. Data Loader 2.0 is integrated with the flagship Matillion ETL for prebuilt transformations.
Snowflake Unistore processes transactional and analytical data workloads together on a single platform. The Unistore service simplifies and streamlines the development of transactional applications and provides consistent data governance capabilities, high performance and nearunlimited scale. While transactional and analytical data are traditionally maintained separately in database systems, Unistore expands Snowflake’s data cloud to include transactional use cases.
StarRocks Cloud is a cloud-native version of the startup’s SQL engine, based on the Apache Doris OLAP database, which provides real-time enterprise analytics as a fully managed SaaS platform. StarRocks delivers sub-second OLAP analysis and supports ad hoc queries three to five times faster than other open-source products even where data is frequently updated and deleted. Eliminating the need for de-normalized data tables is key to StarRock’s performance.
VantageCloud Lake, based on a new cloud-native architecture, offers high performance and low total cost of ownership for a full spectrum of data analytics workloads including ad hoc, exploratory and departmental tasks. VantageCloud Lake is a self-service offering that brings the enterprise capabilities of Teradata Vantage to a broader, more diverse range of analytical use cases. VantageCloud Lake joins VantageCloud Enterprise as part of the Teradata VantageCloud product line.
ThoughtSpot Teams and ThoughtSpot Pro expand the breadth of ThoughtSpot’s cloud data analytics software beyond ThoughtSpot Enterprise Edition, the company’s flagship product that’s designed for large-scale deployments. The new Teams Edition is designed for a single user group with an unlimited number of users while the Teams Pro Edition supports up to five user groups with an unlimited number of users.
The new release of the WebFocus business analytics platform includes WebFocus Container Edition, a scalable, microservices-based platform for container-based deployments that simplifies and accelerates on-premises or cloud Kubernetes deployments. WebFocus 9.0 also offers the Hub, which provides users with access to content and data across any device through a workspace and application directory. And the 9.0 release includes significant enhancements to WebFocus Designer such as a streamlined ability to create, manage and stage datasets when authoring content. ■
A. We hope to raise awareness in the channel with a deep look into business continuity as it relates to cybersecurity and disaster recovery through tiered backup storage. Planning for the unknown is vital and it begins and ends with company data and backup storage.
A. Data must be backed up quickly and reliably so that it’s ready for restore. ExaGrid offers the only tiered backup storage architecture which allows for backup and restore performance as fast as disk and deduplication without impact on performance. ExaGrid Tiered Backup Storage is the best of both worlds with a front-end disk-cache Landing Zone and a non-network-facing tier repository for storing all the data in a deduplicated format for storage savings. The other key feature of the tiered architecture is that it’s non-network-facing, which provides a tiered air gap with delayed deletes and immutable data objects and ensures that all backup data is available after a cyberattack such as a ransomware attack.
A. While backup applications are usually top of mind, backup storage can often be overlooked and leads to poor performance and overpaying for storage in the backup environment. In addition, the importance of utilizing backup storage as a key part of the recovery process after a ransomware attack. Preparing efficiently for disaster recovery is also a big part of the equation.
A. ExaGrid’s architecture and implementation have multiple facets of reliability and redundancy protecting the customer’s data at every step, allowing organizations that are considering disk-based backup appliances to make informed vendor selections. Organizations using a disk-based backup appliance to hold their invaluable backup data should carefully consider how the appliance is designed for reliability and redundancy. Compromises in a product’s architecture or implementation may reduce product cost, but those savings are quickly dwarfed by the risk and real cost to an organization of a loss of some or all backup data
ExaGrid has an innovative reseller program and has a large focus on working with the channel. ExaGrid is also the only vendor completely focused on backup storage, so we make sure to offer the best features and offer flexibility, scalability, unrivaled customer support and high customer satisfaction.
Bill Andrews CEO and President
”
”Protection from cybersecurity and disaster recovery are primary concerns for organizations today. ExaGrid offers a unique Tiered Backup Storage approach to ensure that attackers cannot compromise the backup data, allowing organizations to be confident that they can restore the affected primary storage.
The burning question for solution providers today is how to navigate a broken supply chain that keeps putting obstacles in their way.
Here’s how some have forged ahead and created stronger customer relationships in the process.
By Shane Snider & Gina Narcisi
Mike Shook knew when the COVID-19 outbreak wreaked supply chain havoc that it would change the fundamental makeup of his solution provider business.
He had already determined before the pandemic hit that his company, 5S Technologies, Cary, N.C., needed to transition to a cloud- and services-led model. But as hardware became more and more difficult to come by, it was the global supply chain crisis that lit the fuse and dramatically accelerated the solution provider’s transformation to become “software-heavy” as a matter of survival.
“When I place a software order, I have the license within 24 hours, and we’re paid within 30 days,” Shook, founder, president and CEO of 5S Technologies, told CRN. “With hardware, it could be six months to a year before you can deliver [with current supply chain backlogs].”
Shook is one of many savvy solution provider executives who pivoted his business to preserve revenue in the wake of supply chain challenges that have made it difficult to procure the hardware they typically used as solution building blocks.
“We took a long, hard look, and we changed who we were,” said Shook, who founded 5S Technologies eight years ago as a small VAR focused on hardware sales. “We are now an MSP, and our managed services sell our software and hardware. We’ve gone full circle from the hardware being the horse that drives the cart to the software driving it.”
The scope of the two-year metamorphosis is evident in the numbers.
“Our VAR portfolio went from 80 percent hardware [and] 20 percent software to 60 percent software and 40 percent hardware,” Shook said.
During that time, 5S Technologies built up its hybrid cloud practice, boosting its focus on Citrix Systems and Nutanix, even becoming a Nutanix Champion Partner in August 2021. “It was easy for us to adopt that model once we got away from being a hardware shop,” Shook said. “Thankfully, we had those software technologies in place as people adopted work-from-home, and we were not relying on unknowns.”
At Meriplex, a Houston-based MSP, explosive growth in cloud and security services driven by the pandemic and the supply chain crisis has powered astronomical sales.
Cloud computing consulting and services revenue for Meriplex grew more than 50 percent in 2021 and is up another 50 percent this year. Security consulting is also on a sales tear, more than
doubling each year of the pandemic.
The company’s hybrid solutions also have been up 50 percent year over year for the past two years.
“The pandemic accelerated the adoption of cloud computing,” said Meriplex Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships and M&A Neil Medwed, who has been at the forefront of a Meriplex acquisition binge that has brought 10 MSPs in the past two years under the Meriplex umbrella. “There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. Pre-pandemic, 25 percent of the customer base was deeply thinking about cloud. Because of the pandemic, 75 percent-plus of customers are thinking deeply about cloud and hybrid cloud solutions.”
Medwed estimates that about 40 percent of MSPs have made the transition to the cloud software and services model in the wake of the pandemic. That leaves a whopping 60 percent of the MSP base that has struggled and is not where it should be in terms of offering customers sophisticated cloud and security services, he said.
“If you stuck with a hardware-dominated model in the midst of the pandemic and supply chain crisis, you are in the intensive care unit at this point,” Medwed said. “I believe that well-run MSPs are going to be able to take advantage of the market dynamics in a very positive way. Those companies that are not well run are going to struggle to keep up as days go by.”
Zac Paulson, CEO of TrueIT, a fast-growing Fargo, N.D.-based MSP, said the supply chain crisis has had an earth-shattering impact on nearly every part of his business. The resulting product shortages forced all of his customers to look deeply at cloud services, leading to a 20 percent to 30 percent increase in his cloud services business since the start of the pandemic.
“We were always a born-in-the-cloud-first type of company, but the customers weren’t always cloud-fi rst,” Paulson said. “That conversation has gotten a lot easier. We were able to take the technology we use every day in our business and move it to our customers faster.”
TrueIT’s managed services business hit new highs in 2021 and 2022. “Our business is stronger than it has ever been because we were prepared to help our customers cross the chasm into the cloud,” Paulson said.
The supply chain crisis has changed the psyche of the channel regarding just-in-time manufacturing, said Paulson.
“We all got used to just-in-time inventory and project processes,” he said. “This has caused everyone to take a step back,
‘When I place a software order, I have the license within 24 hours, and we’re paid within 30 days. With hardware, it could be six months to a year before you can deliver [with current supply chain backlogs].’
— Mike Shook, Founder, President, CEO, 5S Technologies
do more planning, look at their forecasts and be a little more proactive. In all honesty, that is not a bad thing,” Paulson said.
Ultimately, the crisis has raised the status of MSPs acting as trusted advisers, Paulson said.
“Before the crisis, it was not uncommon for some of our managed services customers to buy online or go to big-box stores and buy stuff, and then we had to deal with the fallout,” he said. “When it became more diffi cult, they put the burden back on the MSP. The customers have welcomed that. I think they appreciate the fact that we are taking care of this now and helping them get through the supply chain crisis,” he said.
TrueIT has also begun holding inventory on certain hard-to-get products for customers. “We are holding laptops, desktops and access points,” he said. “Customers are purchasing product, and we are holding it for them until they need it. We never carried inventory in the past.”
Marc Harrison, a 33-year veteran solution provider and PC reseller, wakes up every day with a knot in his stomach knowing he will spend countless hours on an increasingly futile attempt to chase down products for his customers.
“It makes you question why you’re in this business sometimes,” Harrison, president of Silicon East in Morganville, N.J., said with a sigh.
For Harrison, the transition to the cloud is not coming easily. He started offering more cloud-based services at the beginning of the pandemic “but for us that’s all been new business with existing clients. To date, no one has shut down their server infrastructure and never looked back,” he said. “The reality is, even with cloud-based apps and infrastructure, businesses still need PCs, switches, Wi-Fi access points, firewalls and printers. So the problem still exists for us.”
Harrison isn’t alone in his frustration. While the PC business saw an unprecedented boom in the two years following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, solution providers were about to get a crash course in the complex world of the global supply chain.
As COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns impacted just about every corner of the globe, a ripple effect would begin creating a supply chain snarl that is still vexing industries around the world.
The IT industry took an especially nuanced hit, with vendors reporting record sales and demand entangled with constrained supplies and logistics delays.
While solution providers were busy trying to fulfill their backlogs, a perfect storm was waiting in 2022 as workers and
students began returning to physical offices and schools. Demand began falling off deeply on the consumer PC side.
In addition, inflation spawned by global economic interventions was starting to rise. Russia invaded Ukraine in March, causing more logistical turmoil in the supply chain. And finally, COVID-19 reared its head again in China, this time striking some of the busiest technology manufacturing firms around Shenzen. Those market forces took a toll on financial results across the board in the tech sector and roiled the supply chain even further.
Networking, server and PC vendors have been hit particularly hard.
At networking giant Cisco, for example, the supply chain crisis has triggered a record-breaking order backlog to the tune of more than $15 billion as of May, up 130 percent year over year. The San Jose, Calif.-based company did not disclose those order backlog numbers for its most recent fiscal quarter that ended July 30. But the company once again saw triple-digit backlog growth that fueled the backlog to the highest level ever recorded in the company’s history, Cisco Chair and CEO Chuck Robbins said in August.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s backlog, meanwhile, hit yet another record level during its third fiscal quarter ended July 31, up 96 percent year over year. The backlog includes Aruba order bookings of more than 20 times historical levels and a backlog in the compute business that also hit another record level and is now at five times normal levels.
The backlog also impacted Spring, Texas-based HPE’s growing GreenLake cloud services business, which was “limited” by supply chain constraints that hindered the ability to do some GreenLake installations in the quarter, according to HPE President and CEO Antonio Neri.
The supply chain delays are impacting solution providers in different ways. Smaller players seem to be bearing the brunt of backlogs for ready stock, solution providers said. Larger companies with more purchasing power can hold more inventory. For Silicon East’s Harrison, the difficulties in the ordering process create a constant supply headache.
Harrison explained a typical problem with ordering a server for a customer: “We buy these large, $20,000 to $25,000 servers,” he said. “The server might be in stock, but there are no hard drives and no SSDs [solid state drives] to go with it. In some cases, there are no power supplies. And you need all those components to deliver a solution. The problem is that the power supply might be back-ordered, say six weeks …
‘We all got used to just-in-time inventory and project processes.
This has caused everyone to take a step back, do more planning, look at their forecasts and be a little more proactive.’
— Zac Paulson, CEO, TrueIT
the hard drives are back-ordered 12 to 16 weeks, and for the SSDs, there’s no delivery date at all. So, you take delivery of the server and pay for the other parts as they become available. And there’s no guarantee the hard drives, for example, will ever come in.”
Some customers, he said, have been waiting more than two years for server parts to complete projects. “This is making it impossible to provide the solutions customers have paid for. … It’s ridiculous,” Harrison said.
As remote work and remote learning fueled a rush to equip workers and students with PCs and networking devices during the pandemic, Harrison was suddenly flooded with demand while he watched supply for these products get increasingly more difficult to secure.
Network switches, for example, have become a nightmare to deliver, he said.
“On the network side, we’re going through our hundreds of installations and trying to figure out where to put in switches that may be larger capacity than we actually need—but that’s what’s available. We’re literally playing ‘musical switches.’ It’s just not sustainable in the long term.”
their networks as the wait for parts continues.
In addition to networking products, storage products have been hard to find, said TrueIT’s Paulson. In fact, he said, some customers that ordered products in January are just now receiving the equipment, he said.
“Every customer that needed networking or SANs faced delays,” Paulson said. “There were none that we could order and deliver in a normal time frame.”
TrueIT also had orders canceled by distributors that were facing one delay after another from vendor partners, said Paulson. “Distributors thought they would have stock coming in, but the estimated time of arrivals just got way too long so the orders were canceled,” he said.
TrueIT also saw big price increases, which caused the solution provider to go back to its customers with 10 percent to 30 percent price increases, according to Paulson.
— Harry Zarek, Founder, President, CEO, Compugen
Wait times for some hardware products are lasting nearly a year right now, according to Hermann Masser, president of Masser Technologies, an El Paso, Texas-based solution provider. The issue is particularly bad for networking gear, he said, which has prompted Masser Technologies to stock used equipment to fill in temporarily as needed.
“We’re keeping an inventory of used equipment so when one of my customers that is waiting to get the hardware, or when they have a failure and they have to replace a switch in an emergency because we cannot find switches or access points anymore, we’ll grab one of those old pieces of equipment and deploy it as a Band-Aid until we can get the equipment back,” Masser said.
Masser’s company is waiting on close to 200 access points right now—products he doesn’t expect to have in hand for another year. “It’s definitely changing our ability to move fast and to sell,” he added.
A solution provider who spoke to CRN on condition of anonymity said that the network switch shortage has contributed to a 30 percent decrease in hardware sales for his company this year compared with last year.
The Texas-based solution provider has about 60 SMB customers and has been forced to use older network switches to patch
Ultimately, True IT delivered fewer hardware products to customers but at a higher price, with the result that overall hardware sales have risen, said Paulson. “Hardware quantity is down by a signifi cant number, but our hardware sales overall are up,” he said.
For Harry Zarek’s Ontario, Canada-based solution provider Compugen, the race to outfit a tech-heavy workforce to operate from home during the pandemic was a wake-up call to the channel that it had long overlooked the complexity of the supply chain.
“It was an awakening about how dumb and stupid we all were about the supply chain because it works so well, right until it falls apart,” said Zarek, founder, president and CEO of Compugen. “And in fact, it’s so broken, it’s like Humpty Dumpty. But there’s no way any human being could have seen it coming. People were sending me pictures of themselves trying to cobble together home computers, old laptops, and trying to assemble some sort of way to work from their kitchen or basement. The first part of it was just pandemonium.”
As the pandemic wore on, the challenges shifted, he said.
“We went through phases,” Zarek said. “The first phase was this mad scramble to get anything that customers could use to allow them to maintain operations. Then there was this short period of time where businesses seemed to go into suspended animation—they just paused. Then, business began to accelerate. Every month it was more and more, and as business kept growing the supply chain issues kept growing along with them. It’s a never-ending game of Whac-A-Mole.”
‘It was an awakening about how dumb and stupid we all were about the supply chain because it works so well, right until it falls apart. ... But there’s no way any human being could have seen it coming.’
When Future Tech Enterprise CEO Bob Venero made a bold bet on building out global logistics capabilities for his solution provider business a decade ago, he had no idea it would reap big rewards in the wake of a global supply chain crisis.
“Global logistics are on the forefront of every meeting and conversation we are having with customers and OEMs,” he said. “We are tracking this weekly with our OEMs. Every week we have supply chain calls at every level for every product for every customer that we sell to.”
With its global logistics capabilities, Future Tech’s business is “booming,” with sales up 49 percent in the last year, said Venero. “Our hardware business, including mobile, desktop, server and storage systems, is extremely healthy,” he said.
One reason for the uptick in business is the ability for Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Future Tech to leverage its financial muscle to gain a supply chain advantage for its large enterprise customers by increasing its inventory levels from three months of inventory before the pandemic to six to nine months of inventory, said Venero.
“Our job is to make sure we can meet these supply chain challenges for our customers,” he said. “We have changed and adjusted the way we do business with increased inventory levels for the last two years. We are holding up to $100 million in inventory today, up from only $30 million pre-pandemic.”
But Venero stressed that a global logistics buildout is not for the faint of heart.
“Eighty percent of the pain we have as a company comes from the global work that we do for our customers,” he said. “Global logistics is extremely tough. You are talking about dealing with every country, every region, every OEM, every rule and regulation in these countries, every certification. Take what you have in the U.S. and multiply that by the 47 countries that we operate in today and all the OEMs that we work with and you can understand the level of complexity that we are dealing with as a global logistics company.”
Rhino Networks, an Asheville, N.C.-based solution provider and Cisco partner that specializes in Cisco’s Meraki portfolio of cloud-based products, serves thousands of customers in the U.S. It teams with distributor Ingram Micro for Cisco Meraki product fulfillment, a process that has worked well for Rhino Networks for the past decade. That’s because Cisco Meraki products have
always had very short—nearly nonexistent—lead times, offering an “Amazon-esque” experience for customers, according to Todd Carriker, founder and CEO of Rhino Networks.
But the days when orders would arrive within 48 to 72 hours are long gone, he said.
Early on in the supply chain crisis, the long and disruptive lead times for gear sparked “massive amounts” of disbelief from customers. “[They would say], ‘That can’t be true. Surely that’s not the case.’ Or they’d say, ‘Well, instead of doing Cisco-based wireless access points, I’m going to go buy Aruba or Ubiquiti,’” he said.
Then, the bad behavior started. Customers began calling multiple Cisco partners in an attempt to get different answers. But businesses quickly learned that all solution providers were in the same boat. Customers also began placing product orders across several different vendors. When they would receive a tracking number for shipping, they’d cancel the other orders, which further threw off inventory allocation and forecasting for nearly every major manufacturer, Carriker said.
Out of desperation, some customers began dipping into the gray market and buying gear without a warranty and with potentially compromised serial numbers. One business bought $150,000 worth of gray market Cisco gear that was largely unusable, Carriker said. “We’ve seen people be burned,” he added.
Rhino Networks immediately began heading off these issues at the pass by being as transparent as it could with its customers about shortages and lead times to set realistic expectations. The company pivoted on a dime and started showing customers other options outside the Meraki portfolio that had shorter lead times. For example, if a customer was interested in a Meraki access point, another comparable Cisco access point might fit the bill based on the customer’s deployment and consumption plans. And if a customer knew it would be ordering more a few months down the line, Rhino Networks would put together a bulk order to get the company a discount, Carriker said.
“Essentially, if they could put some skin in the game and invest a little more, we’d help out. It’s about being creative and showing people you care,” he said.
For Calgary, Alberta-based Cisco partner Long View Systems, the biggest challenge at the start of the crisis was fluctuating shipping times that would often change in “the 11th hour,” creating uncertainty for solution providers and end customers, said Lane Irvine, the company’s network business solutions director.
‘We have changed and adjusted the way we do business with increased inventory levels for the last two years. We are holding up to $100 million in inventory today, up from only $30 million pre-pandemic.’
— Bob Venero, CEO, Future Tech Enterprise
“Early on, we would see ship dates for products that were supposed to show up three days from now, but then the ship date would change to three months out,” Irvine said.
Products like the Cisco Catalyst 9200 switch series were not available, while others had better availability, such as Cisco’s Small Business 300 Series switch, Irvine said. “We had to do a review and update of what products we should be ordering, and we had to work with clients and make the shift in a number of cases,” he added.
The solution provider also worked with frustrated customers by staggering product deployments. For projects that may have required 300 new access points, for example, it was deploying 20 new access points every week. This “trickle” allowed customers to make progress on their IT goals, said Kent MacDonald, senior vice president of strategic alliances at Long View.
“It was much more manageable to start projects in bite-sized chunks rather than having to wait for everything to arrive to start the project,” MacDonald said.
At the same time, Long View’s cloud and managed services businesses have flourished.
Long View has been building a practice around the increasingly popular Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) buying model for its customers. The solution provider this year became the first Cisco Gold Integrator and Gold Provider partner in Canada with a Hybrid Cloud Cisco Plus deal, Cisco’s XaaS portfolio. Long View’s own as-a-service cloud infrastructure, On-Demand Infrastructure, is built on Cisco technology.
“With XaaS, you don’t have a supply chain or shipping delay issue because the capacity is instant-on,” MacDonald said. “The supply chain issue really does help punctuate the value of XaaS, especially in a data center infrastructure environment.”
Mike Turicchi, vice president of Gainesville, Va.-based NCS Technologies, said the big changes at the beginning of the pandemic were a shock to the system, but his company upped its game when it came to forecasting and communication with customers. “It came on pretty quickly,” he said. “We have about 400 [vendor] partners in our ecosystem, and in the beginning, the top 50 or so were reaching out quickly saying, ‘You might want to put some orders in. Prices are going to go up. Supply is going to get tight,’” he said.
“To some extent it was out of our control—these changes were coming, whether we liked it or not. We’re not like Apple
where we could go out and buy a bunch of inventory and warehouse it somewhere.”
Turicchi said forecasting and communication with customers have become crucial since the pandemic first hit.
“It’s very much a cat-and-mouse game where you’re asking the customers what’s going on, and you’re telling them what’s going on from your side,” he said. “It’s become more about building relationships.”
Solution providers have had to learn to forge stronger bonds with customers and with vendors, Turicchi said.
“It was a chance to really get to know the customer more intimately and get some more insight,” he said. In the past, solution providers may have gotten used to a more turnkey process of buying and selling, Turicchi said. “We were all used to that … push-button aspect of supply. So, we were all pretty demanding of the vendors. We had to step back and say, ‘We need these guys more than ever, so we need to play a little nicer.’ Price isn’t everything today. That’s been a huge shift,” he said.
But even as the business shifts and refocuses, Turicchi said the relationships built during the pandemic will have a lasting impact on the channel community.
“At the end of the day, we all want to make money, but the relationship aspect has become a big ingredient,” he said.
The Cloud Needs To Be A ‘Driving Force’ Meriplex’s Medwed believes the pandemic and supply chain crisis have forever shifted the market dynamics from a channel model focused on hardware sales to a cloud-dominated model.
“Before the pandemic, cloud was an important component of the average MSP portfolio, but it wasn’t the featured component of the portfolio,” he said. “In this day and age, cloud needs to be a highly featured component of the portfolio. It has to be a driving force of your expansion because clients are moving toward hybrid models. The days of how much hardware I can sell and at what margin are behind us.”
5S Technologies’ Shook said his company would be in serious trouble if it were still focused primarily on hardware.
“People on the hardware side are trying to address the supply chain problems with Band-Aids and hope it gets better. They are doing what they can to stay alive. If all I did was sell hardware, we wouldn’t be able to pay the bills right now. I’d imagine anyone in that position is struggling.”
‘With XaaS, you don’t have a supply chain or shipping delay issue because everything is instant-on. The supply chain issue really does help punctuate the value of XaaS, especially in a data center infrastructure environment.’
— Kent MacDonald, SVP, Strategic Alliances, Long View Systems
For those who work tirelessly and very often behind the scenes, it’s their time to be front and center. Across the channel’s vendors and distributors, these individuals are helping craft the programs and processes to ensure their company’s partners succeed.
Nidhi Tassone
Director, Commercial Marketing Acer
Tassone brings her strong work ethic to bear as she develops and designs channel strategies for Acer, being flexible enough to meet a wide variety of part ner needs while assisting solution providers in grow ing their sales funnel.
Bozhilova stands out for the work she’s done in devel oping a partner management playbook for Acronis’ cloud distribu tion partners, establishing business development processes for her team and overachieving targets with most of her partners.
GM, AWS Marketplace Seller, Partner Services Amazon Web Services
Timmes joined AWS’ market place seller services team two years ago and has since added lead ership of the company’s partner engineering teams as well. This gives him ownership of product, engi neering and operational support teams that span multiple cities in the U.S., Canada and South Africa.
Jordan wins kudos for the role he’s play ing in driving strategy and operations for AMD’s channel team, making key decisions at a critical time for the chip vendor as it strives to build up its partner presence and win solution provider mind share.
Polya Bozhilova Team Manager, Cloud Distribution Success Acronis
Andrew Jordan Manager, North American Commercial Channels AMD
Jay Zammit VP, Global Channel Sales Engineering AppDynamics, part of Cisco Zammit works tirelessly to help AppDynamics partners get all the tech nical support they need to be successful. As a channel advocate, he has helped secure resources to expand the company’s global coverage model and deepen its technical enablement offerings for solution providers.
Shawn Massey VP, Sales Engineers ArcserveDescribed as a cool, calm and collected teammate who cherishes his role as a partner advocate, Massey’s passion for the channel is rivaled only by his domain expertise as a technical sales leader. Colleagues say he’s the guy who always seems to have the answer.
Katie Nemode Director, Regional Channels, West Arctic Wolf
Nemode is laser-focused on scaling the Arctic Wolf Partner Program, including acti vating and enabling more partner sales representa tives. She’s also working to speed the time it takes for new partners, including MSPs, to start bringing in revenue.
Tami Hyder Customer, Supplier Success Manager Arrow Electronics
Hyder is like a bloodhound when it comes to reducing inefficiencies
by sniffing out partner and supplier opportuni ties for digital integration with Arrow. Her passion for outstanding customer sat isfaction, combined with her creativity, make her an invaluable asset to Arrow and its ecosystem.
Federal Channel Director Aruba, an HPE Company
Boynton lever ages her 20 years of experi ence to guide and grow Aruba’s federal chan nel business as she helps partners navigate the complexities of the gov ernment market. She also mentors the company’s lessexperienced CAMs to ensure high-level partner support in the future.
Stephan Tomecko Partner Manager Augmentt
Since joining Augmentt a year ago, Tomecko implemented the company’s first partner success plat form, which gives MSPs access to tools, analytics and resources to help them sell more of the company’s SaaS security and manage ment offerings. He also has launched numerous go-tomarket training modules.
Allison Hammond Director, Operations AvantHammond is said to possess many of the key leadership traits that have helped Avant grow—authenticity, strategic thinking, cre ativity, responsibility and strong communication. One key achievement was the restructuring of Avant’s partner support team, which created new efficiencies for solution providers.
David Kern Regional Manager, Partner Success Barracuda MSPKern manages more than 1,000 partner rela tionships for Barracuda MSP, and he has proven himself to be a trusted teammate who embraces the oppor tunity to help each partner achieve its goals. He also has shown a strong focus on education and enable ment for partners.
Randi Fleming
Sr. Global Account Executive, Cloud, MSP Bitdefender
Fleming is described as a driven evan gelist who knows how to put partners on the path to year-over-year growth. She builds strong, strategic relationships and acts as a consultant to those part ners, helping Bitdefender build up its global cloud and MSP business.
Jeremy Young Director, Partner Stragegy Blumira
Young has deep channel roots and taps into them to help foster mean ingful connections with Blumira’s MSPs. He is pas sionate about developing channel sales programs that benefit all parties with a respectful approach to partnership that encour ages long-term ties.
Greg Schneider Leader, Global Channel Partner Marketing, Events Boomi
Schneider is known for deliv ering strong partner market ing engagement that drives growth and innovation for Boomi part ners and customers. This engagment comes as the company works to stake its claim in the integration-plat form-as-a-service market since being spun out from Dell Technologies last year.
When it comes to MDF, funded heads, backend rebates and partner incen tives, Stamler is the go-to person at Broadcom. She keeps the trains running through meticulous atten tion to detail and thorough program tracking. Solution providers certainly appreci ate the results: getting paid on time.
Sabaj wins kudos for doing more than what’s in his job description, serving as the eyes and ears for Check Point’s team into the channel technical community. Praised for consistently going above and beyond, he’s admired for his willingness to always jump in to try to fix a problem.
Nayak is one of the leaders playing a critical role in enabling increased chan nel performance as part of Cisco’s continued focus on improving the partner expe rience, tapping predictive insight from machine learn ing to help solution providers and distributors drive profit able growth.
Denise Mendez Director, Americas Channel Operations Citrix Systems
Mendez is seen as the magic behind Citrix’s Americas partner opera tions, working diligently to ensure the company’s channel machine runs flawlessly and partners get their incentives and rewards on time. Without her, colleagues say, all of the company’s channel efforts would grind to a halt.
Sr. Manager, Solutions Engineering
Cloudflare Area 1 Security
Yip is instrumen tal in ensuring that Cloudflare Area 1 Security’s partners have the technical resources needed for success. He also plays a significant role in developing the material and courses required for specialized training, risk assessments and deploy ments through the partner community.
Michael Turner National Partner Manager Cohesity
Through a combination of diligent account planning, strong field engage ment and the ability to leverage the skills of func tional team members, Turner led one of Cohesity’s strategic partnerships to triple-digit growth, becom ing a model case study for success.
Lee Berk Sr. Director, Sales Engineering Comcast Business|MasergyColleagues describe Berk as a passion ate leader who will do anything for Comcast Business|Masergy’s part ners and his team. He is said to be constantly working in the background to support and grow partners’ business and internally will deliver what is needed to support his peers.
Kevin Pistorius Channel Sales Director Claroty
Pistorius is driv ing Claroty’s channel sales push at a criti cal time, as the industrial security ven dor said after receiving a new round of funding in the summer of 2021 that it was thinking about an IPO. Then in December, Rockwell Automation co-led a $400 million funding round.
Nadine Yamasaki Sr. Partner Success ManagerConnectWise
Yamasaki gets credit for helping retain some of ConnectWise’s largest and most at-risk partners by being their advocate and deliver ing on her commitment to provide remarkable experi ences. Colleagues say she works relentlessly to find solutions to partners’ pain points.
Meredith Dishman Director, Distribution Channels Critical Start
Dishman’s aim is to build better ties to Critical Start’s distribu tion partners. She has developed sales and vendor enablement as well as enhancements through marketing and training that better position the company to serve the distribution channel in pur chasing managed detection and response services.
Grend Naumi Manager, Solution Architect, Americas Alliances, Channel CrowdStrikeIn his role on CrowdStrike’s Alliances team, Naumi has helped enable over 200 partners this past year. With past experience in the security company’s sales engineering organi zation, he brings a unique perspective of customer and partner needs.
Monique Gibelli Director, Partner Development CommvaultGibelli took the reins in building out Commvault’s Metallic MSP model for SaaS delivery, led the engagement with the company’s first MSP partner and made sure lessons learned from the pilot were shared and integrated into the broader program rollout.
Trevor Schubert Professional Services Technical Solutions Manager D&H DistributingA fundamental player on D&H’s Solutions Expert team for 17 years, Schubert oversees the distributor’s relationship with Google in its K-12 vertical, helping ensure that partners can deliver Chromebooks to the classrooms that need them. He has a reputation for devoting endless energy to solution providers.
Q. What motivates you as a channel leader?
A. Evolving our partners’ business models is a personal passion for me. And now, with the launch of our Ingram Micro XvantageTM digital experience platform we are doing this at scale!
Ingram Micro has always placed equal importance on partner experience and partner growth. We are committed to mutual success, and work hard to attract the industry’s brightest talent and better enable our partners to go further faster—growing stronger and more profitably.
Q. What’s critical and core to the growth of today’s MSPs?
A. The right partnerships are a growth catalyst and common denominator among the world’s most successful MSPs—then, now and in the future. The close partnership we offer our partners is unrivaled and with the arrival of our digital twin Ingram Micro Xvantage, we are building on this success—making it easier to do business with Ingram Micro and placing business-building resources including real-time data and analytics at our partners’ fingertips.
John Dusett Executive Director, Cloud ServicesA. First, choose your ecosystem wisely. Work with companies including Ingram Micro who know how to navigate the transformation to services and offer the resources you need to build your value and better service your customers.
Second, build out your services transformation in all key areas including offerings, talent and financials.
Third, focus on the intersection of your customers, their needs and your key capabilities. Everything as a service doesn’t mean everything at once. Grow the business by working together to scale mutual success, and remember, growing at double-digits year-over-year is awesome, until you realize the market around you is growing at an even higher, more impressive clip. Keep a growth mindset.
The close partnership we offer our partners is unrivaled and with the arrival of our digital twin Ingram Micro Xvantage, we are making it easier to do business with us and placing businessbuilding resources including real-time data and analytics at our partners’ fingertips.”
Q. How can channel partners capitalize on the everything-as-aservice trend?
Pryce recruits, grows and develops Datto partners glob ally and is said to be excellent at his craft. He is always working to ensure solution providers are fully educated and aware of the resources available to them to increase revenue and effectively manage their customers and prospects.
Mallia is Dell’s one-man show, responsible for ensuring myriad rebates are paid out to partners. He makes sure everything is work ing correctly for them with his attention to detail and puts in the time until the job is done. Partners see his impact in their profit margins.
Lisa Allen VP, Field Sales Dynabook AmericasAs a driving force behind Dynabook Americas’ “Channel First, Channel Best” strategy, Allen has helped eliminate channel sales conflicts. At the same time, she is play ing a pivotal role in shaping the company’s long- and short-term enterprise and education market strategies and sits on its Education Executive Board.
Josh Cornick Channel Marketing Manager, Americas Eaton
Cornick is known as the Eaton chan nel team’s digital guru, using his vast array of skills and tapping into the latest marketing technologies to help partners find suc cess. Peers often seek out his help due to his teamoriented attitude, profes sional demeanor and broad industry knowledge.
Sheridan Haider Digital Marketing Manager Exclusive Networks
Haider’s exper tise in social media and ana lytics serves her well as she crafts Exclusive Networks’ digital marketing strategy, as does her nearly endless well of energy. But most impor tantly, her understanding of business needs goes a long way toward executing suc cessful strategic demand generation programs.
Dhriti Kanwar Channel Programs, Operations Manager ExtraHop
Kanwar’s efforts drive growth, transformation and increased engagement between ExtraHop and its partners, spurred on by her can-do approach and positivity. She’s an expert in identifying growth areas and building internal advo cacy to reach success through a team-oriented approach.
Liv Dieter Manager, Global Partner Programs Extreme Networks
Extreme Networks solu tion providers might recog nize Dieter from some of the networking vendor’s channel webinars, but she’s largely working hard behind the scenes and has a hand in all of the company’s channel incentives, payments and partner communications.
Patrick Osewalt Sr. Channel Solution Engineer F5
F5’s channel and field sales teams routinely turn to Osewalt for help due to his wealth of knowledge and 15 years of F5 experi ence. His work to build and prioritize a list of $1 billionplus credit unions in the U.S. and Canada helped one of the company’s larg est partners win big with its security products.
Brent Nohl Channel Operations Director Forescout Technologies
Nohl played an integral role in building out Forescout’s channel pro gram since he joined the company in 2021. He has helped align partner program benefits and requirements with the company’s strategic chan nel sales objectives and supported the introduction of a new partner portal.
Sr. Director, North American Channel Operations Fortinet
Scott and his team provide the muscle behind Fortinet’s Engage Partner Program, managing all facets of channel opera tions. He also oversees the company’s deal registration program as well the devel opment and implementation of partner benefits and incentives.
Global Head, Partner Incentives, Investments Google Cloud
Lahiri is on the front lines ensuring that Google Cloud’s partner incen tives are modeled and built to recognize the true value solution providers bring to the company’s ecosystem. His work plays the everimportant role of helping create profit margins for partners.
Landon Lewis VP, Partnerships HalcyonLewis drove the launch ear lier this year of an MSSP program at Halcyon, maker of an antiransomware platform for the enterprise. The partnership program provides tier-one, first-touch support for the customer and also manages the resale, support and dayto-day operations.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
With excep tional business acumen, excel lent program and project management capabilities and an “always ready, will ing and able” approach to a challenge, Pierce recently co-led the strategy, archi tecture and development of HPE’s next-generation part ner program—HPE Partner Ready Vantage.
Kristi Frackowiak Manager, Americas Partner Programs, Development HP Inc.
Frackowiak worked behind the scenes to influence HP’s Amplify Partner Program, designing the Supplies Drop Ship program to eliminate the reporting requirement for partners that drop-ship all goods through distribution, result ing in 130 North American partner participants.
Annie Ballew Group Product Manager Huntress Labs
Ballew oversees a team of prod uct managers and also taps into her cyber security expertise to write blogs and conduct webinars and live hacking demos. She meets with many Huntress solution providers and works tirelessly to define features and products that meet their needs.
Craig Battleman Global Alliance Partner Program Manager IBM Security
IBM Security sellers fre quently look to Battleman for guidance and support in developing cre ative partner relationship contracts, and he’s often called on to weigh in on route-to-market decisions for new and enhanced offerings. He also educates partners on how to optimize their investments with the company.
Mike Broadwood Director, North America Channel SalesIGEL
Described as a talented and thoughtful channel leader, Broadwood pio neered the launch of IGEL’s Independent Hardware Vendor Program, with the aim of helping partners attract and nurture cus tomers. He has a unique ability to bring together the technology and knowledge partners need to succeed.
John Dusett Executive Director, Cloud Ingram MicroAs a key driver of Ingram Micro’s cloud strategy, Dusett makes it his business to listen to and advocate for what channel partners need so they can get closer to customers and vendors, successfully make the case for the cloud and win more business. He’s also a font of knowledge on hyper-growth solution areas.
Boji Tony GM, Global Customer Success IntelTony leads Intel’s global support efforts and is relent lessly focused on delivering world-class support for partners around the world. In addition, he stepped up to provide interim leadership on his team and is said to consis tently bring forward bold ideas for partner innovation.
Justin Koebnick Group Manager, Partner Development Intuit
With energizing vision, Koebnick leads the pay roll team that supports large accounting firms for Intuit. The team is building out tools to support these firms and unleash the integration of the company’s entire ecosystem. The end result is partners’ lives are made easier.
Sugey Rostran Channel Account Manager IronscalesA 10-year chan nel veteran with a lot of cybersecurity experience under her belt, Rostran has a reputation for being pas sionate in her support of partners, jumping in when ever needed to help and creating strong partnerships that are built for growth and mutual success.
Seema Barman Sr. Manager, Partner Operations Juniper Networks
Barman’s con tributions to the investment pro grams Juniper launches have been deemed invalu able. Partners can rest easy knowing she’s there to ensure the company’s strategy and requirements are accurately translated into flawless execution.
Kim Kneas Sr. Director, Channel Success KaseyaColleagues describe Kneas in one word: “amazing.” She takes her role at Kaseya to heart, bringing a strong sense of caring and responsibility with her as she climbs into the trenches to work hand-inhand with the company’s MSPs to help them grow their business.
Trevor Serebro MSP Partner Account Manager, North America KasperskyWith drive, focus and a peerless atten tion to detail, Serebro has played a key part in build ing out Kaspersky’s MSP efforts. A true team player who wears multiple hats and excels no matter which hat he is wearing, his results speak for themselves.
LaCoume has signed, onboarded and enabled over a dozen part ners, even stepping in to handle tasks that normally would fall to support per sonnel when that team was still staffing up. One of his passion projects has been building up Keepit’s partner presence in South America.
Shaughnessy works closely with distri bution and Kensington’s channel partners to drive growth. He spends count less hours working on allocation and understand ing partners’ changing needs, doing everything in his power to ensure those needs are met.
Erica Davis North America Channel Program Manager LenovoDavis launched Lenovo’s LEAP channel loy alty platform for partners, a huge undertaking that fulfilled a long-standing wish from the company’s channel community for help operationalizing the process of getting incen tive dollars to partner reps.
Mikayla Engel Partner Marketing Manger LogicMonitor
Engel joined LogicMonitor in 2021 to take on a role that was brand new to the company. Since then, colleagues say she has transformed the vendor’s partner marketing engage ment efforts and supported pipeline development, in turn delighting partners with increased responsiveness.
Alicia Fuller
Sr. Business Manager, Portofolio, Solutions, Marketing Microsoft
Co-workers say Fuller has tremendous tal ent and leans in to ensure that Microsoft partners get the road map and program information they need, communication is clear, and selling-season readiness is front and center. Her incred ible attention to detail and end-to-end planning make a huge difference.
Nikki Downing Director, Global Channel Programs, Strategic Projects Mimecast
Downing was instrumental in launching two new part ner program enhancements, including the rollout of teaming plans and deal registration that expanded opportunities for Mimecast’s global partner community while also pro viding margin and price protection.
Marc-Andre Tanguay Head Nerd N-ableTanguay brings his A game to every project he touches, work ing one-on-one with hundreds of N-able MSPs to help them create, optimize and employ strong automation processes. His aim is to get a true under standing of what MSPs go through on a day-to-day basis in order to help them grow.
Tony Cai Director, Sales Engineering Nerdio
Cai stepped into his current role this sum mer, where he is drawing on years of sales experience helping Nerdio partners be successful with Microsoft Azure. His goal is always to deliver strong ROI for part ners while ensuring they can deliver great experiences to their customers.
Maarten van Velsen
Sr. Director, Partner Sales Excellence
NetApp
A 17-year NetApp vet eran, van Velsen often draws on his multifaceted view of the channel to help ensure partner success. He is said to have a keen ability to identify and drive pro cess and system changes that have enabled part ners to develop and close opportunities.
Sr. Manager, Field Marketing Nextiva
DiSibio is con stantly thinking of the next best way Nextiva can go to mar ket with partners, giving solution providers pro grams and content that set them apart from com petitors. He’s doing such a good job that he was promoted after just his first year with the company.
Michelle Lamoreaux Sr. Manager, Channel Strategy, Programs Nutanix
Colleagues say Lamoreaux epitomizes Nutanix’s core values of being hungry, humble and hon est. She played a key role in building the vendor’s Elevate Partner Program and works behind the scenes develop ing and managing the core back-end infrastructure of the program.
Mauricio Sousa Sr. Partner Marketing Manager, Enterprise Solutions NvidiaSousa manages some of Nvidia’s largest national partners, and he is tapping his product management experience to bring a fresh perspective on how to comarket with the channel. He wins kudos for helping build enablement and incentive programs as well as robust demand generation cam paigns with partners.
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Reed impresses with her unique ability to think strategically to solve com plex problems, while also understanding the tacti cal elements required for execution. She is driving the strategy to team cloud service providers with Palo Alto Networks’ ecosystem partners, adding flexibility for customers.
Paul Newman Director, Strategic Sales Pax8
With his deep understanding of the chal lenges Pax8 partners face,
Newman works closely with them to uncover new opportunities to optimize workflows, improve effi ciencies and increase automation. He has played a key part in the distributor’s efforts to support partners strategically.
Jared Bronson Global Channel Enablement, Partner Portal Manager Poly
Bronson over sees Poly’s partner rela tionship management platform, giving solution providers easy, personal ized access to the content they need. He had the vision to advocate for self-service capabilities in the vendor’s partner portal, and the analytics he tracks help con tinually improve the partner experience.
SVP, Partner Programs, Strategy PTC
Cooper has taken on the crucial task of building out PTC’s channel program to support the company’s plans to ramp up new SaaS offerings, working through business and financial elements, rules of engagement and other strategic elements that will bring partners into the fold.
Steve Block Director, Worldwide Partner Readiness Pure Storage
Block wakes up every day ask ing, “What’s in it for partners?” He delivers suc cessful partner enablement programs and serves as the behind-the-scenes project manager for major Pure partner activities such as Global Partner Forum and its Pure Partner Digital vir tual event.
Boyd leads the Global Qlik Partner Program team, provid ing alignment and a shared vision for the program’s continued evo lution, always keeping the partner voice in mind. He demonstrates a passion for listening to partners, understands the industry and wins fans with his col laborative leadership style.
Tyler Hendey Sr. Channel Marketing Program Manager ProofpointHendey is described by colleagues as having a mas terful way of taking suggestions on projects and delivering marketing programs that are better and more detailed than what they could have hoped for. They say his work is thoughtful, timely and impactful.
Cathy Feely
Sr. Manager, Global Channel Operations
Riverbed | Aternity
Feely ensures that all businessdevelopmentfund-related prior approvals, questions and claims are submitted and answered quickly. Teammates say she takes the initiative to provide guidance on ways to ensure partners get the most out of the company’s investment in them.
Sr. Director, Partner Enablement, Services, North America Sage
Having previ ously worked at a solution provider, Carter has the experi ence and empathy to help Sage Intacct partners find their footing and focus on the right things to fuel suc cess. He is said to operate in a quiet and humble way, but the impact he has is profound.
Heather Gramcko
Sr. Director, Solutions, Services Product Marketing Samsung Electronics America
Tasked with developing a newer piece of Samsung’s business, Gramcko brings her A game as she looks for new ways the company can support its channel commu nity. Colleagues say her role requires great dedication and that she fills it admira bly as she strives to make Samsung’s offerings best in class.
Kevin Stansell Director, Engineering, Partner Management Red HatStansell navi gates complex challenges and technical deci sions with ease, leveraging a deep under standing of the goals of both Red Hat solution providers and their customers. When issues do arise, he leads a team that works closely with Red Hat and partner engi neers to solve the problem.
Matthew Ross Cloud Channel Development Lead, ERP SAP
Teammates say Ross is SAP’s “cloud ERP everything and then some,” always on the lookout for ways to help partners grow their practices. At the same time, he keeps an eye turned inward, seeking ways to improve SAP and help it better support its channel partners.
Matheson is rarely more at home than when he’s visiting the offices of one of Scale Computing’s partners, sharing coffee and absorb ing everything he can about that solution provider and what it needs to succeed.
By the time he’s done, the team is fired up and ready to bring the company’s solu tions to market.
Ashley Golibart National Account Manager Schneider Electric
Multifaceted, driven and highly moti vated, Golibart has made her self into a subject matter expert that channel part ners and end users can lean on. Teammates say she is collaborative by nature, strategic by trade and recognized for being a leader among her peers.
Carrie Francey Global VP, Strategic Partner Ecosystem ServiceNowOver the past year, Francey has been laser-focused on developing and leveraging key best practices to accelerate the development and growth of ServiceNow’s larg est global partners. She’s executing on $1 billion-plus multiyear joint go-to-mar ket business plans with great success.
Alexandre Laflamme SME, Modern Workplace Sherweb Laflamme has helped hundreds of partners opti mize their Microsoft partnership, navi gating the intricacies of the Microsoft Partner Network and ensuring they maxi mize their earnings. After developing Sherweb’s MPN consultation program, it’s no wonder colleagues say he’s their resident MPN hero.
Sr. Director, Global Field Marketing
SonicWall Scheibe sees herself as a business archi tect, finding joy in the process of coming up with ideas and then assembling all the pieces to create suc cessful business and marketing plans. She was a key reason why SonicWall’s channel partners delivered record results in 2021.
Raphaela Hecken Channel Marketing Manager, North America Sophos
Hecken has been instrumen tal in providing marketing train ing for strategic partners, creating demand generation, elevating enablement excellence and ensuring partner success. She garnered praise for creating a monthly Sophos Marketing Masterclass, pro viding partners with best practices and training.
Troy Peterson VP, Channel Development Soter Technologies
As Soter builds up its new channel pro gram for its 100-plus part ners, the environmental sensor vendor is turning to Peterson to nurture and grow current relationships while also initiating new ones, whether with large integrators or regional and local MSPs.
Sr. Director, Order Operations Spectrum Enterprise
Bailey main tains his calm demeanor even when he’s the go-to person called on when orders need extra attention or escala tion. He takes ownership of the challenge, allowing the sales team to get back to business while his team finds answers for partners and customers.
Ruya Cuvalci Global Partner Experience, Systems Analyst SplunkCuvalci is Splunk’s sub ject matter expert in part ner financial incentives operations, ensuring that partners are paid correctly and on time for their contributions. The more smoothly and qui etly the process flows, the more successful it is.
Woodward designed Tanium’s first Partner 101 enablement activation program, ulti mately training 1,800-plus sellers. She also created a toolkit for partners to leverage with supporting information. The end result was a program that part ners loved and colleagues appreciated.
Jim MacBride Director, Business Development TD Synnex
MacBride allows his recordproducing team to take the spot light year after year. He does this by gain ing consensus, keeping his team focused on goals and providing a strong example through his contagious work ethic and commit ment to TD Synnex and the channel.
Fields runs the team that is responsible for Tenable’s deal registration, order processing from distributors and partner on-boarding. She ensures that partners and dis tributors have a smooth experience when submit ting orders to Tenable.
Tannous has a ton of MSP industry experi ence under his belt and now runs ThreatLocker’s part ner support operation. His diligence in building qual ity and skills while rapidly growing the Cyber Hero support team has created a culture of care and urgency at the company.
Driven by his passion for building bridges between cus tomers, partners and TimeXtender, Ehno runs a team that has built a chan nel partner/alliance network of close to 200 companies worldwide. Those part ners typically achieve high growth margins and enjoy a recurring revenue flow.
Jason Lecorchick Sr. Manager, Partner Solutions T-MobileLecorchick aims to opti mize strategy and drive partner aware ness, working closely with all levels of T-Mobile For Business sales and support teams. He helped create a go-to-market campaign focused on streamlining the program and driving incre mental growth across the entire ecosystem.
Guran Green Head of Americas Channel, Distribution Trellix
Green is helping to drive Trellix’s Americas part ner strategy as the company works to spread the word about channel opportunities with its extended detection and response offerings, including Detection as a Service. He also brings a wealth of public sector channel experience to the table.
Ruben Luna
Director, Partner Sales, Business Development Veeam Software
Tapping into 15 years of chan nel experience, Luna has helped evolve Veeam’s strategy and programs to meet the changing trends and channel partner needs. He holds himself to a high standard of quality, which is evident in the way he dili gently works to match the right partner to the right program.
Heather Stene
Associate Director, Channel Operations, Partner Experience Verizon Business
Verizon turned to Stene when it needed a channel expert to redesign its wireless partner programs, including enhancing the service provider’s distribu tion channel program to enable additional product categories, automation and scale. She also led the strat egy to expand the wireless agent program.
Caleb Augustin Head of Channel Sales Verkada
Working to bol ster the strength of Verkada’s 100 percent channel sales strategy, Augustin had a hand in building up the company’s channel ranks to more than 4,000 partners worldwide and adding more at a clip of 100 per month. He has also doubled the company’s channel employee head count.
Christina Pageau Sr. E-Commerce Marketing Manager, Global Vertiv
Pageau gets credit for lead ing the charge to build a team from scratch to manage the end-to-end process for product listings and rich content to help customers find the right Vertiv solutions on chan nel partner websites, and for creating transactional opportunities for the chan nel business.
Scott Bergquist Sr. Director, Ecosystem Solutions
VMware Bergquist was instrumental to the design of brand-new investments in marketplaces for VMware partners’ services and offer ings, which has enabled them to deliver unique ecosystem strategies and solutions that bring tre mendous enterprise value to customers.
David Boland VP, Cloud Strategy Wasabi TechnologiesBoland stepped into his current role in June, where he is working to push Wasabi’s cloud strategy right to the cutting edge. This comes after he spent the previous three years in a product marketing lead ership role, so the depth of his knowledge and under standing of the company’s portfolio is hard to beat.
Mark Villinski
Field Marketing Manager, National Accounts
WatchGuard Technologies
Few things are more impor tant to Villinski than driving strong partner recruitment efforts for WatchGuard. He single handedly managed at least 10 marketing initiatives with the company’s distributor and national accounts in recent months. And he’s always adding new skill sets to his arsenal.
Jacob Hengel Co-Founder, CTO YourSixHengel and crew have developed what YourSix is calling a PhysicalSecurity-asa-Service offering that combines video surveillance, access control, sensors, analytics and more. The company is now bringing its portfolio right into the heart of the channel.
Q. How does Schneider Electric adapt to the changing needs of the channel?
A. We recently launched our new partner program to better support partners’ evolving business models. The new mySchneider IT Partner Program provides flexibility for partners to establish their expertise in the areas that make the most sense for their business, whether that be traditional IT, data center or in software and digital services. The focus now is more on value versus volume and we are providing partners with a new training framework and benefits, such as our rewards program, to set them up for success.
Q. How does Schneider Electric collaborate with other alliance partners to support the channel and end customers?
A. We understand the power in a partner ecosystem. Due to the nature of our products and the importance of power in IT, there are numerous opportunities to attach our products and add business value. Through strategic partnerships with many of the largest IT vendors, such as Cisco, HP, Dell, Microsoft and more, we’re able to combine their technology with our APC portfolio to offer differentiated best-in-class solutions through our shared IT partners. These alliances enable faster, more reliable end-toend solutions that benefit both the partner and customer.
Q. How can partners leverage Schneider Electric’s expertise in sustainability to bring value to their customers?
A. If you haven’t already had conversations with your customers around sustainability, you likely will in the future. Many partners now have a dedicated resource focused on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives and expect to generate revenue from sustainability solutions and services. We want to be your partner in sustainability. Schneider Electric can support you through the full customer lifecycle by providing Green Premium™ products that take into consideration energy efficiency, durability, reparability and more. We also can enable you to offer digital services that monitor and provide predictive analytics or support end of life by offering sustainable operations through recycling services.
Ashley Golibart National Account Manager
As our partner ecosystem expands, we evolve with it to make room for partners’ new business models that align with industry changes. Digitization is growing and Schneider Electric is committed to taking a sustainable, innovative and collaborative approach with our most trusted channel partners to better serve our customers’ needs.”
Learn more about Schneider Electric’s Partner Programs and benefits at: apc.com/partners
For the 37th year, CRN o ered solution providers in North America the opportunity to grade the performance of their IT vendor partners with the CRN Annual Report Card.
The 2022 CRN ARC provides a look at which IT vendors are doing the best job in meeting their partners’ needs. Solution providers graded vendors across 25 technology categories that included a total of 21 criteria spanning product innovation, support, partnership, and managed and cloud services. Vendors received average scores for each criteria and an overall score for the technology category.
Here are the winners of this year’s ARC. Vendors marked with an asterisk (*) did not provide a list of top partners to CRN for this project as requested, so solution providers from our ChannelBase database were surveyed. Partners still had to be working with that particular vendor to be included.
By Rick WhitingScan the QR code to see the full 2022 ARC database.
Channel Executive: Wendy Stusrud, VP, Global Partner Sales
Pure Storage topped the cloud storage technology category with an overall score of 86.9.
The company, in fact, swept the category with highest scores across all criteria including 90.5 in product innovation, 82.1 in support, 87.7 in partnership, and 86.7 in managed and cloud services.
Pure Storage’s highest criteria grade from partners was 101.6 for product quality and reliability, part of the product innovation criteria.
This was one of two product categories in which Scale Computing received top ARC scores this year.
Scale Computing swept the converged/hyperconverged infrastructure category and received an overall score of 91.5. The company received 94.1 in product innovation, 89.8 in support, 94.7 in partnership, and 86.8 in managed and cloud services.
Channel Executive: Bill Fitzgerald, VP, Channel Sales, Americas
Barracuda Networks was the winner in this technology category with an overall score of 90.9.
The company came out on top in every criteria category with scores of 93.9 in product innovation, 88.1 in support, 92.3 in partnership, and 88.7 in managed and cloud services.
Channel Executive: Kyle Fenske, Director, North American Channel
This is the second of two technology categories in which Scale Computing captured the highest grades, receiving an overall score of 92.0.
The company had the highest scores in every criteria category with 93.7 in product innovation, 91.8 in support, 94.5 in part nership, and 87.4 in managed and cloud services.
Channel Executive: Kendra Krause, SVP, Global Channels, Sales Operations
This is the first of five technology categories in which Sophos was the winner—the most wins of any company in this year’s ARC.
Sophos made a clean sweep of all criteria and garnered an overall score of 87.6.
The company scored 91.1 in product innovation, 84.7 in support, 87.6 in partnership, and 86.5 in managed and cloud services.
Channel Executive: Phil Soper, North America Head of Channel Sales
Hewlett Packard Enterprise was the winner in enterprise network storage hardware, the first of two wins for HPE. The company had an overall score of 81.6, including top scores in product innovation with 86.1, partnership with 82.8, and man aged and cloud services with 79.8.
DATA SECURITY
Channel Executive: Jim Harold, VP, North America Channel Sales
This is the first of three wins for Aruba in this year’s ARC. Aruba made a clean sweep of this technology category. Its overall score of 88.1 included high scores of 95.2 in product innovation, 86.0 in support, 87.1 in partnership, and 82.7 in managed and cloud services.
Channel Executive: Phil Soper, North America Head of Channel Sales
Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s second win in this year’s ARC was a hard-fought duel in the increasingly competitive hybrid cloud technology category.
HPE had the highest overall score at 78.8, including top scores in product innovation with 82.4, support with 76.4, partnership with 77.9, and managed and cloud services with 77.9.
Channel Executive: Kendra Krause, SVP, Global Channels, Sales Operations
In the second of Sophos’ wins this year, the company came out on top in this technology category with an overall score of 93.1. That included the highest scores in every criteria, including 96.3 in product innovation, 89.2 in support, 94.6 in partnership, and 91.4 in managed and cloud services.
Rob Cato, VP,
Lenovo scored two wins in this year’s ARC, including one in industry-standard servers.
Lenovo scored 83.0 overall and received the highest scores of 79.4 in support, 87.9 in partnership, and 78.8 in managed and cloud services.
In yet another hard-fought match, N-able topped this technol ogy category with an overall score of 76.4. That included the highest scores in product innovation with 81.1, partnership with 79.5, and managed and cloud services with 74.4.
N-able also had the highest scores for training (77.0) and quality of field management (74.0) within the support category.
Channel Executive: Craig Schlagbaum, SVP, Indirect Channels
This critical category turned out to be a dead heat between Comcast Business and its recent Masergy acquisition and rival Charter Spectrum with both earning an overall score of 72.8.
Comcast scored highest in most product innovation criteria with a score of 75.8 and in most managed and cloud services criteria with a score of 68.8.
Comcast also garnered higher scores in several specific criteria including marketing support (61.7) in the support category and solution provider program (75.6) and communication (80.7) in the partnership category.
Channel Executive: Michelle Kadlacek, VP,
The scoring in the network connectivity technology category was a tie between Comcast Business and its recent Masergy acquisition and Charter Spectrum, with both companies earn ing an overall score of 72.8.
Charter Spectrum scored highest for support (71.9) thanks to high scores in such criteria as pre- and post-sales support (79.8 and 78.2, respectively) and in the partnership category (76.3) due to high scores in managing channel conflict (74.5) and ease of doing business (83.9).
This technology category marks the first of two wins for Fortinet in the 2022 ARC.
Fortinet held its own against multiple competitors with an overall score of 85.9. That included winning scores of 91.4 in product innovation, 83.1 in support, and 80.8 in managed and cloud services criteria categories.
Channel Executive: David Weeks, Sr. Director, Partner Experience NETWORK CONNECTIVITY Charter SpectrumChannel Executive: Kendra Krause, SVP, Global Channels, Sales Operations
This crowded technology category marked another win for Sophos. The company won with the highest overall score (89.7) and had the top scores in product innovation (93.6), support (87.0), partnership (91.7), and managed and cloud services (85.7).
Channel Executive: Jim Harold, VP, North
In the second of Aruba’s three wins, the company came out on top with an overall score of 89.4. That included top scores for all four criteria: product innovation (95.6), support (88.0), part nership (89.8), and managed and cloud services (83.0).
Channel Executive: Rob Cato, VP, North America
Marking its second win in the 2022 ARC, Lenovo earned a clean sweep of all criteria in this technology category and an overall score of 89.3.
The company received scores of 94.1 in product innovation, 87.0 in support, 94.0 in partnership, and 80.9 in managed and cloud services. Within product innovation Lenovo scored 104.2 in product quality and reliability, one of the highest scores in any criteria in this year’s ARC.
Channel Executive: Hervé Tardy, VP, Marketing and Strategy, Critical Power and Digital Infrastructure Division
Eaton won this technology category with its 88.8 overall score. The company earned scores of 91.2 in product innovation, 90.4 in support, 93.4 in partnership, and 79.7 in managed and cloud services.
The product innovation score included a grade of 103.8 for product quality and reliability, one of the highest scores in this year’s ARC.
NETWORK POWER PROTECTION & MANAGEMENTChannel Executive: Jason Kimrey, VP, U.S. Channel, Partner Programs
Intel was uncontested in this technology category this year, earning an overall score of 82.7.
The processor giant recorded scores of 94.5 in product inno vation, 79.4 in support, 85.1 in partnership, and 69.5 in man aged and cloud services.
Intel often earns the single highest score—for product qual ity and reliability—on the ARC and this year the company continued that trend with a blockbuster score of 108.8.
Intel
Channel Executive: Kendra Krause, SVP, Global Channels, Sales Operations
In yet another win for Sophos, the company earned an overall score of 91.2 in the cloud security technology category. Sophos generated scores of 94.3 in product innovation, 87.0 in support, 92.9 in partnership, and 90.0 in managed and cloud services.
Channel Executive: Jon Bove, VP, Channel Sales
Fortinet scored a clean sweep in SD-WAN, a fast-growing seg ment of the IT industry and the channel. It also marked Forti net’s second win in the 2022 ARC.
The company earned an overall score of 80.5. That included scores of 86.4 in product innovation, 79.5 in support, 80.3 in partnership, and 74.5 in managed and cloud services.
Channel Executive: Kendra Krause, SVP, Global Channels, Sales Operations
Sophos, in its fifth win in this year’s ARC, earned an overall score of 91.8 in this technology category.
The company earned top scores in each criteria including 96.0 in product innovation, 88.7 in support, 92.9 in partnership, and 88.8 in managed and cloud services.
SECURITY—ENDPOINT SECURITY—CLOUD
Q. The channel ecosystem is chattering about the potential to reduce cybersecurity buying costs by 40 percent. How does a partnership with Cynet make that possible?
A. Two words: “consolidation” and “automation.” We have seen unprecedented MSP and MSSP adoption of the Cynet 360 AutoXDR platform because it consolidates a full suite of security capabilities into one platform that automate day-to-day IT operations. That way, MSP and MSSPs can invest in a single solution, rather than paying multiple vendors for a complex stack, and they can focus on management instead of manual tasks. The net effect is a 40 percent reduction in operational and security buying costs.
Q. That financial upside is powerful, to say the least, but why are partners finding Cynet to be the right fit for their customers?
A. First off, Cynet is 100 percent channel-focused, meaning we never compete with partners for sales. Because, simply put, our platform is purpose-built for their target markets (SME businesses), with 24/7 MDR support included out of the box. That technological advantage provides a unique value to our partners and their customers. By delivering total visibility, correlation and automation in a single, intuitive platform, Cynet is helping partners provide our mutual customers superior coverage against tomorrow’s threats at a cost-effective price point.
A. Our solution provider partners are telling us they love the new program because it rewards growth and loyalty regardless of their size and scale. We also revamped our training and enablement program to empower partners with the knowledge bank and practical skills to surpass their customers’ expectations. No matter what type of deal you are working on, our partner programs provide ways for you to boost margin and provide deal exclusivity.
A. We provide what you need to extend cybersecurity to all customers, regardless of their size. We provide our partners with industry-leading technology, robust enablement programs and a frictionless experience that drives superior outcomes. Every aspect of our partner program was designed with mutual profitability in mind. At the end of the day, your success is our success! And that’s the way it should be
Become
Daniel Klein Chief Business Officer
”Cynet’s promise to make comprehensive cybersecurity easy isn’t just to end-users. Our solutions and support make it easy for our partners to accelerate their business growth.
Tenable pulled off a clean sweep of this technology category and earned an overall score of 90.1.
Across the criteria the company generated top scores of 93.1 in product innovation, 88.2 in support, 91.9 in partnership, and 86.4 in managed and cloud services.
Aruba, for its third win in this year’s ARC, came out on top in this technology category with an overall score of 86.2.
The company received top scores of 93.0 in product innova tion, 84.0 in support, 86.0 in partnership, and 80.7 in managed and cloud services.
Channel Executive: Bill Rhodes, Director, Channel Sales
Another company recording a clean sweep in this year’s ARC is Buffalo Americas, which earned an overall score of 88.3 in the SMB external storage hardware technology category.
Buffalo Americas received top scores of 92.2 in product innovation, 86.0 in support, 92.6 in partnership, and 81.6 in managed and cloud services.
The company’s product innovation grades included 107.2 for product quality and reliability—the second highest score for any criteria on this year’s ARC.
Channel Executive: Marc Stein, Global VP, Channel Sales
Nextiva scored a clean sweep of all criteria in this increasingly important product category for the channel.
The company received an overall score of 85.9. That included top scores of 89.4 in product innovation, 84.4 in support, 87.1 in partnership, and 82.0 in managed and cloud services.
UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS & COLLABORATION SMB EXTERNAL STORAGE HARDWARE SMB NETWORKING Channel Executive: Jim Harold, VP, North America Channel Sales Channel Executive: Chris Blando, Sr. Director, Channel Sales, Americas
Q. Barracuda MSP considers itself a partner-first organization. What does that mean and how does it benefit partners?
A. Barracuda MSP is the MSP-dedicated business unit of Barracuda Networks. Our mission is to deliver innovative security products that are easy for MSPs not just to buy, deploy and use, but that enable them to deliver their security services more successfully. Everything we do is done with the MSP in mind, from MSP-friendly pricing, centralized management tools and go-to-market partner support. MSPs’ success is our success.
Q. With cyberattacks on the rise, how can MSPs best ensure customers are in a good place with cybersecurity?
A. Cybersecurity challenges can’t be solved by products alone. Cybersecurity is a journey. In today’s threat landscape, standalone solutions need to be supplemented with a more holistic approach. We characterize basic cybersecurity hygiene as an attainable standard to start with for securing customers. This includes establishing what needs to be protected, building concentric rings of security around those things, monitoring environments to gain visibility, optimizing response time and standardizing on a framework that covers people, process, and technology
Q. How does Barracuda XDR transform an MSP’s offering?
A. Barracuda XDR is an eXtended visibility, Detection & Response platform that is backed by a group of tenured security experts in our 24x7 Security Operations Center (SOC). With Barracuda XDR, MSPs can provide proactive cybersecurity-as-a-service for their customers without investing in building their own SOC, hiring, training and retaining security talent or round-the-clock staffing.
Q. What unique opportunities are available for prospective MSP partners that want to take advantage of Barracuda’s products and services?
A. Partnering with Barracuda MSP can accelerate an MSP’s path to success in offering managed security services and help MSPs improve their customers’ security posture. Barracuda’s proven security pedigree coupled with its deep understanding of MSP’s unique needs means we are well-equipped to do this. From streamlining service delivery, improving customer security posture and growing the MSP’s business, we are committed to their success.
Neal Bradbury Senior Vice President, Barracuda MSP
”Partnering with Barracuda MSP can accelerate an MSP’s path to success in offering managed security services and help MSPs improve their customers’ security posture. Barracuda’s proven security pedigree coupled with its deep understanding of MSP’s unique needs means we are well-equipped to do this.
Request a demo today to learn more about Barracuda XDR Looking for actionable best practices? Get a free copy of our new ebook, Conversational Managed Security Services for MSPs.
Despite today’s shifting IT landscape, many solution providers have thrived. They have expanded their product portfolios and services offerings and in creased their technical expertise to meet changing customer needs. They also have maintained rapid growth, organi cally or through acquisitions.
CRN publishes a number of solution provider lists and rank ings throughout the year including the Solution Provider 500, the largest solution providers operating in North America by revenue; the Fast Growth 150, ranking the fastest-growing solu tion providers; and the Tech Elite 250, showcasing solution pro viders that have achieved the highest partner levels and certifica tions from leading IT vendors.
Every year a number of solution providers achieve the trifecta of making all three lists. This year 41 solution providers, profiled on the following pages, achieved that feat to become the 2022 class of CRN Triple Crown winners.
Converge Technology Solutions is appearing on the Triple Crown list for the first time. The company has grown rapidly, thanks to more than 30 acquisitions since its 2017 founding, and the channel superstar is on pace to grow sales by $1 billion this year.
“We’re over a $3 billion run rate now. And with the new acqui sitions, we will be pushing up closer to $4 billion,” CEO Shaun Maine told CRN in May shortly after the company unveiled a
deal to buy Technology Integration Group, with its end-to-end solutions for education, government and enterprise business cus tomers. Converge Technology Solutions followed that up in June with deals to acquire three Germany-based solution providers that specialize in the education market.
Such acquisitions not only increase the Gatineau, Quebecbased company’s revenue, they have helped the solution pro vider expand geographically and acquire new competencies and services capabilities. “Really, it’s midmarket education, health care, finance and technology—they all need help getting to the cloud,” Maine said of the growing demand for its services.
Logically, based in Portland, Maine, is on the Triple Crown list for the fourth time thanks to customers’ growing interest in its managed security services. “We’re growing like crazy,” CEO Michelle Accardi told CRN in July, citing demand for the company’s cybersecurity services and outsourced remote IT support offerings.
Business IT Source, which was just acquired by Computacen ter United States (itself a Triple Crown winner), is on the Triple Crown list for a sixth time.
Solution providers that have made the Triple Crown list for a fifth time include AEC Group, DH Tech, Evotek, Ntiva, Veristor (acquired this year by Anexinet) and Winslow Technology Group.
MARK HARANAS & CJ FAIRFIELD contributed to this story.IT services provider Adapture architects and implements solutions for enterprise data centers, improving IT performance and mitigating risk. Adapture evaluates customers’ IT operations and helps them meet their goals around cloud, security, enterprise storage and networks.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 283
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 116
2022 Fast Growth: 38%
Triple Crown Winner: 2017, 2019
Cranberry Township, Pa.
All Lines Technology is a provider of edge-to-cloud solutions and managed IT and cybersecurity services.
e company’s experienced technical sta helps customers, from startups to Fortune 500 companies, improve how they buy, implement and manage IT infrastructure.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 282
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 96
2022 Fast Growth: 48%
Triple Crown Winner: 2019
BlueAlly’s solutions span IT infrastructure, cloud and security, backed up by managed infrastructure and security services and professional services in system assessment, implementation, migration and integration. BlueAlly was HPE Aruba’s 2022 SMB Partner of the Year.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 196
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 83
2022 Fast Growth: 52%
Triple Crown Winner: 2017
Technology solutions integrator AEC Group has more than 25 years of experience in IT infrastructure, virtualization, data life-cycle management, security, cloud, virtual workspaces and managed services. AEC is a single source for consultation, design, implementation and support services.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 218
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 42
2022 Fast Growth: 92%
Triple Crown Winner: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
AMS.NET provides IT solutions and services to California school districts, governments and businesses. Its expertise in switching, wireless, security, data center, storage, VoIP and video surveillance is backed by project management, maintenance and support, and nancing and procurement services.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 233
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 147
2022 Fast Growth: 27%
Triple Crown Winner: 2014, 2015, 2018
Erez Pikar
CEO Phoenix
Bluum empowers educators with IT solutions around computers, interactive devices, audiovisual systems and cybersecurity. Bluum services include IT consulting and design, integration, installation, technical support, leasing and nance, warranties and repair, and professional development.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 59
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 20
2022 Fast Growth: 184%
Triple Crown Winner: ★ New to list
AHEAD builds platforms for digital businesses, especially in health care and nancial services, combining software and data engineering capabilities with infrastructure modernization expertise. AHEAD’s recent vCore Technology Partners acquisition expanded its network, cloud and data protection portfolio.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 32
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 94
2022 Fast Growth: 49%
Triple Crown Winner: 2015, 2020, 2021
ANM Raminder Mann CEO Albuquerque, N.M.
IT consultancy ANM offers solutions and services to large and midsize companies in the Southwest U.S. ANM designs, implements and supports solutions in risk management, digital transformation and IT systems including data center, cloud, network automation, collaboration and security.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 121
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 86
2022 Fast Growth: 52%
Triple Crown Winner: 2017, 2020, 2021
Mark Theoharous CEO Chicago
e Burwood Group provides IT management and infrastructure solutions backed up by consulting, implementation and managed services. The company offers deep expertise in cloud infrastructure, application modernization and user productivity.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 117
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 120
2022 Fast Growth: 36%
Triple Crown Winner: 2016, 2017, 2021
Vinod Paul COO New York
MSP Align offers a complete managed IT services stack encompassing everything from cloud computing and outsourced IT support to vulnerability management and cybersecurity services. Align is a Microsoft Tier 1 cloud service provider and Gold partner.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 248
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 36
2022 Fast Growth: 114%
Triple Crown Winner: ★ New to list
ATSG Anthony D’Ambrosi CEO New YorkATSG develops IT solutions as a service for infrastructure, desktop, disaster recovery and backup, and work-from-home. ATSG’s services lineup includes the rediTech, rediManage and rediCloud suites and the comprehensive, integrated ATSG Intelligent IT Platform.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 189
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 52
2022 Fast Growth: 78%
Triple Crown Winner: 2020, 2021
Bob Frauenheim CEO Buffalo Grove, Ill.
Business IT Source is a value-added solution provider, offering customer services that include one-day product delivery for many customers and stocking customers’ standard equipment at no cost. BITS was acquired by Computacenter United States in July.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 107
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 49
2022 Fast Growth: 83%
Triple Crown Winner: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Cybersecurity adviser CBI o ers services around penetration testing, security architecture and integration, and managed security services. CBI was acquired by Converge Technology Solutions in April.
IT systems integrator CDI provides hybrid IT solutions and expertise, including developing and implementing digital solutions that enhance day-to-day workflow processes. In August CDI achieved VMware’s Master Services Competency in SD-WAN.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 230
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 70
2022 Fast Growth: 62%
Triple Crown Winner: ★ New to list
CEO Gatineau, Quebec
Converge Technology Solutions is a software-enabled IT and cloud solution provider that delivers advanced analytics, cloud and cybersecurity services supported with managed services and digital infrastructure expertise. e company has grown rapidly thanks to more than 30 acquisitions since 2017.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 36
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 29
2022 Fast Growth: 145%
Triple Crown Winner: � � New to list
Devin Henderson
Founder, CEO Leesburg, Va.
DH Tech, a HUBZone-certi ed small business, provides systems integration and managed services with a focus on advanced technologies in virtualization, data center optimization, GPU acceleration and hyperconverged computing platforms.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 195
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 41
2022 Fast Growth: 97%
Triple Crown Winner: 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 47
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 65
2022 Fast Growth: 65%
Triple Crown Winner: 2014, 2015
Mathew Lafrance CEO Portland, Ore.
Convergence Networks describes itself as a security- rst MSP that delivers cloud-based, integrated solutions across a wide range of technologies and security services. e company merged with Ottawa-based Grade A in 2020 and Lansing, Mich.-based ASK in 2021.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 409
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 105
2022 Fast Growth: 43%
Triple Crown Winner: ★ New to list
Richard McKinnon Founder, CEO Sacramento, Calif.
DVBE Technology Group specializes in delivering professional IT consulting services for the public and private sectors around cloud, DevOps, security, telecommunications, storage, systems integration and project management.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 454
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 44
2022 Fast Growth: 87%
Triple Crown Winner: 2021
Garrette Backie Founder, CEO Mesa, Ariz.
Clutch Solutions offers enterpriseclass solutions in IT infrastructure, servers, networking, software, client devices and desktop management, as well as IT support and staffing services. The company has 20-plus years of experience in IT modernization, performance enhancement and cybersecurity.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 385
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 8
2022 Fast Growth: 277%
Triple Crown Winner: ★ New to list
Sonia St. Charles Co-Founder, CEO Lewisburg, Tenn.
Davenport Group delivers IT solutions to commercial customers and government agencies nationwide. A leading Dell Technologies partner, Davenport specializes in designing and delivering data center modernization solutions that include virtualization, data storage and protection, and hyperconverged computing.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 297
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 72
2022 Fast Growth: 58%
Triple Crown Winner: 2018, 2019, 2021
David Andrade CEO Boston
With an emphasis on cybersecurity and business transformation, MSP ECI provides IT solutions and private cloud services to hedge fund and investment industry clients worldwide.
Kevin Shank President North America San Francisco
Computacenter provides IT infrastructure services for developing IT strategy, implementing and managing IT, and optimizing IT performance. Computacenter has expanded in the U.S. by acquiring FusionStorm, Pivot Technology Solutions and Business IT Source.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 19
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 1
2022 Fast Growth: 773%
Triple Crown Winner: 2020, 2021
Majdi Daher Co-Founder, CEO Redmond, Wash.
Denali Advanced Integration offers enterprise IT solutions, managed IT services and professional services on a global basis. Core focus areas include managing hybrid workforces, mobile devices and services, and global supply chains.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 37
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 26
2022 Fast Growth: 172%
Triple Crown Winner: 2014, 2015, 2021
Julie Haley Co-Founder, CEO Alpharetta, Ga.
Edge Solutions develops enterprise cloud, network and cybersecurity solutions backed up by services for IT system assessment and health check, strategic consulting, network design and implementation, and systems migration and integration.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 174
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 82
2022 Fast Growth: 53%
Triple Crown Winner: 2021
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 251
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 129
2022 Fast Growth: 32%
Triple Crown Winner: 2016
Shaun Maine
ePlus helps customers transform IT from a cost center to a business enabler. With top certi cations from leading technology partners, ePlus o ers services and expertise in security, cloud, data center, collaboration, networks and emerging technologies.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 30
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 71
2022 Fast Growth: 61%
Triple Crown Winner:★ New to list
With a focus on cloud, security and digital enablement, GreenPages assesses, modernizes and manages digital platforms that drive business outcomes. e MSP serves midmarket and enterprise customers with a focus on nancial, biotech, health care, insurance and SLED.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 169
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 142
2022 Fast Growth: 28%
Triple Crown Winner: ★ New to list
Founder, CEO McLean, Va.
Ntiva offers IT, cloud and cybersecurity solutions and managed services. Its strategic consulting services and technology expertise help organizations of all types create and maintain stable IT environments and meet their business goals.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 256
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 106
2022 Fast Growth: 42%
Triple Crown Winner: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Evotek is an enabler of digital business
with a focus on innovation, helping customers transition from traditional IT to secure multi-cloud computing. Its o erings include data center and cloud technology and services in cybersecurity, mobility, platform engineering and AIOps.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 78
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 32
2022 Fast Growth: 124%
Triple Crown Winner: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Michael Volk
Founder, Managing Partner Herndon, Va.
GuidePoint Security’s solutions, services and expertise help organizations evaluate their cybersecurity posture and minimize risk. GuidePoint o ers a comprehensive range of security technologies and managed services to protect applications, networks, data and endpoints.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 48
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 51
2022 Fast Growth: 79%
Triple Crown Winner: 2017, 2018, 2019
Jim Sullivan
President, CEO Waltham, Mass.
NWN and Carousel merged in 2021 to create an industry powerhouse in cloud and IT infrastructure. NWN Carousel develops cloud communications, networking and security solutions and is a provider of infrastructure and devices for hybrid work solutions.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 53
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 34
2022 Fast Growth: 117%
Triple Crown Winner: ★ New to list
General Dynamics Information Technology manages large-scale, mission-critical IT programs. It provides IT, systems engineering and professional services to customers in defense, intelligence, homeland security, government (federal, state and local), health-care and commercial sectors.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 12
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 115
2022 Fast Growth: 38%
Triple Crown Winner: ★ New to list
Munu Gandhi CEO Addison, Ill.
ITsavvy provides IT products and solutions, as well as managed, professional and cloud services. Solutions include data center transformation, cybersecurity, network and wireless infrastructure, supply chain optimization, workforce enablement, and Device as a Service.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 82
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 80
2022 Fast Growth: 53%
Triple Crown Winner: ★ New to list
Vince De Palma
President, CEO Toronto, Ontario
Softchoice is a software-focused solution provider with a focus on cloud and data center, networks, security, collaboration and digital workplace, IT asset management and advanced complex solutions. Managed, professional and IT life-cycle services round out the solution portfolio.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 34
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 150
2022 Fast Growth: 27%
Triple Crown Winner: ★ New to list
George Hertzberg President Scottsdale, Ariz.
GHA provides customers with mission-critical IT products and integration and procurement services. e solution provider has amassed a comprehensive computer technology product line representing approximately 3,000 hardware, software and cloud vendors.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 91
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 76
2022 Fast Growth: 57%
Triple Crown Winner: ★ New to list
Michelle Accardi CEO Portland, Maine
Logically is a national provider of managed IT services for SMB organizations, o ering complete IT outsourcing and IT sta augmentation. Services cover IT strategy and planning, security, compliance, cloud, and telecommunications and connectivity.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 229
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 27
2022 Fast Growth: 167%
Triple Crown Winner: 2016, 2020, 2021
W. Todd Bowling President, CEO Littleton, Colo.
Solutions II provides a broad range of professional and managed services and solutions around data centers, cloud and security. e Adaptable Data Center secure framework is the core of the company’s digital transformation, cybersecurity, virtualization, business continuance and infrastructure services.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 267
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 148
2022 Fast Growth: 27%
Triple Crown Winner: ★ New to list
Sycomp provides enterprise data center, network, cloud, endpoint and security solutions and services to organizations globally. Services include system assessment, IT system design and architecture, system implementation and integration, and training and support.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 62
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 91
2022 Fast Growth: 50%
Triple Crown Winner: 2020, 2021
Scott Winslow
Founder, President Waltham, Mass.
Winslow Technology Group enables customers to transform by realizing the bene ts of hyperconverged, softwarede ned and hybrid cloud infrastructure frameworks. Key areas of expertise include data center, cloud, cybersecurity and digital workspace.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 310
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 149
2022 Fast Growth: 27%
Triple Crown Winner: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Tammy Cooper Chairman, CEO, CFO Irvine, Calif.
Technologent is a global provider of IT solutions and services to Fortune 1000 businesses. e company’s o erings span hybrid infrastructure, automation, security and data management solutions, as well as managed services, professional services, nancial services and digital transformation expertise.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 56
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 85
2022 Fast Growth: 52%
Triple Crown Winner: 2020, 2021
Veristor Ashby Lincoln President, CEO Duluth, Ga.Veristor develops transformative business solutions around advanced data center, hybrid cloud, network, security and big data technologies. Veristor merged with Anexinet earlier this year with the unified company offering a comprehensive IT solutions and services portfolio.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 147
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 118
2022 Fast Growth: 38%
Triple Crown Winner: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021
WEI Belisario Rosas President Salem, N.H.WEI’s portfolio covers data center, cloud, network, big data, cybersecurity, business continuity and disaster recovery, and mobility and end-user computing.
Services include IT consulting and strategy, deployment and sta ng.
2022 SP 500 Rank: No. 88
2022 Fast Growth Rank: No. 146
2022 Fast Growth: 28%
Triple Crown Winner: 2015, 2016
bill having made its way through Congress, one of the issues that has to be worked out is what does the future spell for the larger high-tech supply chain.
Backlogs and concern over the manufacturing location and expertise around chips is only a piece of the overall issue. Chips need to be placed on circuit boards, and in every case there is more to a complete solution than the chip.
So is every part of the supply chain coming back to the states or merely some of the higher-end chip development?
We all have to realize that customers at every level want to pay the lowest possible price for the best possible value. If a complete solution is better than that being offered by competi tors, customers will certainly spend more. But there is a ceiling.
Cheap labor means a less expensive finished product, but there are ways to squeeze costs out by efficient supply chain management.
Dell Technologies was a master at this years ago when it not only employed just-in-time manufacturing but understood nuances about the supply chain that its competitors missed.
Just-in-time manufacturing cut costs in multiple ways. Not having to store as much product at the point of manufacturing reduced needed warehouse space, but it also meant getting stuck with obsolete product when a change was made. It allowed Dell to understand that the cost of the goods going into the finished product would itself decline over time.
That in turn allowed the company to look at a longer-term contract with customers in a different way that could increase winning bids.
By understanding that today’s finished product would cost less to build in the coming months as the price of certain com ponents came down, sales could reduce pricing on a longer-term contract. By perhaps breaking even or even taking a small loss
in the early months of delivery at a negotiated price, the bid could be won. In later months the profitability would return and, over the life of the contract, the profit was acceptable.
Over time, of course, cheap overseas labor was too hard to resist, and more high-tech manufacturing moved overseas, where it largely resides today.
The geopolitical challenges of today’s world—with China and Russia in particular—are putting more focus on the glo balization of manufacturing. It’s not likely the majority of what has shifted overseas will return. What is likely to happen is a repositioning of manufacturing location.
Over time we are likely going to see much more debate and relocation to more friendly portions of the world that are still less expensive than North America. Growth areas like Vietnam will get more attention.
As big data and artificial intelligence grow, the importance around them will become so strategic politically that this is all going to become a huge issue across the globe.
The world has been changed by high-tech, and high-tech is entering a phase where it will be changed by the world.
Government intervention is only going to increase, not only here but worldwide. Friendly and non-friendly countries are going to push high-tech businesses to do what they believe is the right thing. Incentives also are going to become a bigger consideration for the strategic portion of high-tech, and that is going to extend well beyond the high-end chip manufac turing area.
Unfortunately, governments of all types want control of stra tegic areas, and high-tech is going to be dragged far more deeply into geopolitical issues. This will mean maneuvering through very different issues for high-tech CEOs in the future. n
BACKTALK: Make something happen. Robert Faletra is a Founding Partner of The Channel Company. You can contact him via email at rfaletra@thechannelcompany.com.
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