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Welcome to the 41st episode of the Ultimate Guide to Partnering, I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since I started this podcast.
During my first 40th episodes as a podcast host, I’ve had the unique privilege of interviewing scores of leaders in the technology industry during this amazing transformation. I want to thank each of them for taking the time to be part of the Ultimate Guide to Partnering.
I started my podcast to share my experiences building partnerships and channels that ultimately transformed businesses. Rather than write a book that would have been outdated by the time it was completed, the podcast created an opportunity to interview leaders and document rapidly evolving and transforming technology trends.
This year has been an amazing time in technology, precipitated by the movement of business applications to the cloud, the rapid aggregation of data, driven by this movement and the development of tools in the realm of AI, Machine Learning and the like to harness the power of this vast aggregation to improve outcomes in business, in health, in education and in many other areas that ultimately promise to improve the human condition.
When I started I didn’t see it coming. This was supposed to be a podcast on the art and science of partnering, but what it’s turned into is a real-time chronicle of the widespread digital revolution happening across every sector empowered by data and the cloud’s ability to make business applications ubiquitous. Entire industry sectors are being democratized because they now have access to capabilities and data like no other time in history.
My interview guests have been the leaders driving the change. Business executives from Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Salesforce and VMWare and their technology partners have taken their platforms and tools and made them palatable to a host of clients and industries.
Based on my discussions and interviews, these hyper-scale organizations did not expect this revolution to happen as fast as it has, and neither did their technology partners. One organization focused strictly on migrating data centers and applications to the cloud was responsible for sun setting and migrating 167 data centers alone in 2017. Another premier partner to the technology giants has grown to over $100 million in annual revenue this past year. The amount of progress is astounding and yet, we are still at the very beginning of this adoption cycle with only perhaps 6 or 7 percent of the world data and applications currently in the cloud. The future looks incredibly bright.
During my pause, I recently scanned my 40 episodes. My interview guests did an amazing job sharing transformational strategies, technology trends, leadership advice and lessons on the art and science of partnering. It’s a pretty decent compilation for technology professionals looking to stay current on the market forces, industry advances, and partner strategies at companies like Microsoft, with a little Google, Amazon, VM Ware and SalesForce thrown in for good measure. You can access the full list of episodes here – http://bit.ly/2DOrzch
In episode 34, I interviewed Jason Rook. Jason is the Vice President of Market Development for 10th Magnitude, an early Born in the Cloud Partner and Microsoft chose 10th as its 2017 Partner of the Year for Infrastructure and Hybrid Cloud. Jason was an early guest on Episode 13, Anatomy of a born in the cloud partner, Jason Rook. http://bit.ly/2BuUNIW
In our most recent discussion, we focused on the pace of change and what he is observing from his unique vantage point. The full interview is here – Brand, Employees, and Customers with 10th Magnitude, Jason Rook. http://bit.ly/2kcRrTs.
On Episode 37, I had the privilege of conducting a live interview with my good friend and the CEO of SADA Systems, Tony Safoian. Tony had been one of my first podcast guests and in this episode, we specifically discussed where he is investing for future growth and what he does to predict and hedge his business investments. He’s obviously done a good job as Sada exceeded $100M in revenue in 2017. The full interview is here – Skate to where the puck is going with Tony Safoian http://bit.ly/2CclyoU
For Episode 38, I had the good fortune to interview Margo Day. Margo is the leader of Microsoft’s US Education business and no stranger to the channel. In this episode, we discuss where partners should invest for continued growth and she shared some really compelling insights for our listeners. The full interview is here – Unlock the future…with Margo Day http://bit.ly/2mdLU01
On Episode 39, I was joined by Eduardo Kassner, Microsoft’s Chief Innovation Officer for the Worldwide OCP, or One Commercial Partner Organization. Eduardo has a deep perspective and set of experiences and he freely shared some of the top challenges partners are facing and what he and the team are doing to enable and support partners through the change. The full interview is here – Fundamentals of innovation for partners to transform, Eduardo Kassner . http://bit.ly/2GejwD9
Where are you and where is your organization?
Are you feeling left behind during the change? Technology giants like Microsoft and others are investing in resources to help their partner organizations push through the change and transformation. There are playbooks that chronicle the best practices – the why’s, what’s and how’s – to help partners build new practices and capabilities, attract the right talent, market their solutions and services broadly and ensure profitability as partner business models shift.
The best of the best make it to my podcast. I’m privileged to have featured some of the smartest minds in the tech sector and to have them share their advice.
And yet, with all of this transformation and change, partnering is still not nirvana. The need still exists for more information delivered to scale, to help these partners discover information to build their business, and stay in greater lockstep for continued success.
I’m committed to still being a conduit, to help you all connect and thrive. Having spent the last year at this unique vantage point, I feel empowered to help.
To technology leaders like Microsoft, I feel empowered to make this recommendation, leverage learning channels like podcasts, and always on channels, to deliver your message, your evidence, your enablement and training at scale, so that your constituents can consume what they want where they want, and when they want in a mobile-driven world.
And, for partners, you need to better understand and embrace your accountability for the success of the relationship by leaning in, making the executive investments to grow the practice, and understanding the cadence, and how to navigate these complex relationships.
We have only begun, what an amazing and bright time ahead for all of us. Let’s lean in together to make the transformation in 2018 even more spectacular and amazing than the year before.
You can listen to the podcast here or on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Player FM, other Android podcast players.
As with each of my interview and articles, I appreciate your feedback. You can reach me on Linked In or on email at vincem@cloudwavepartners.net. You can also review this podcast by going to iTunes and searching “Ultimate Guide to Partnering” and clicking on the album art and hitting the ratings link. This helps others find the podcast.
I hope you enjoy this episode!
Vince Menzione