Channel Chat Podcast

Today Marc was joined in the virtual studio by the Global VP of Channel Sales from Park Place Technologies; Jeff McCullough. They discuss the challenge clients are having, having had to front load their IT spend on unexpected equipment to facilitate home working and the impact this many have on longer term/larger infrastructure projects.

Today Marc has been joined by Neil Murphy from Bytes Technology Group. They discuss the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Bytes' plans to float later in 2020 and how impressed Neil has been with the way his staff have adapted to remote working. They also talk about the way the channel has come together to really help end users over come their challenges.

Marc talks to Benjamin who proclaims to be the 'UK's most hated sales trainer'. They talk about the art of cold calling and why so many people are reluctant to do it in the first place. Benjamin also gives some of his best tips to be more successful in a sales role and why it is only our own limiting beliefs that prevent us from being successful in the first place.

Today Marc has been joined in the studio by the Sales and Marketing Director from Academia; Mark McCormack. Although 70% of their business comes from the education sector, Mark mentions that they are beginning to see the green shoots of recovery. They discuss the importance of trust when working from home and the likely way things will change in the future.

Marc has been joined in the virtual studio by the Global VP of Channel Sales for 8x8 John DeLozier. John was recently voted 2020 Channel Influencer of the Year and the coveted 2020 CRN Channel Chief.  It was great to get his views on the way the channel has adapted to life under lockdown and particularly how 8x8 has risen to the challenges.   It has been said that the current pandemic has lead to the 'golden age of communications for all of the wrong reasons and John discusses 8x8's approach to ensure the wellbeing of staff and customers at this time.

Today Marc speaks to Eamon Moore from Hiraki Data Solutions. Hikari Data Solutions is a group of dedicated business and technology professionals who provide organisations with solutions that allow them to analyse business data; giving actionable insights, adding value and empowering companies to make better business decisions. They discuss the importance of having a diverse client base and how having an international slant can help as well. Eamon also discusses what he thinks he will happen after lockdown.

Please find the full audio recording of the first of our LIVE EVENTS recorded earlier in May. Featuring Mark and Lewis from HPE and 'friend of the show' MD of Westcoast Alex Tatham. Check out our website www.robertson-sumner.com for details of upcoming live events in the future.

Margaret leads 3 analyst teams in Europe: Services, Partnering Ecosystems and SMB/Start-Up. Based in London, she is responsible for driving IDC’s research, innovation and thought leadership agenda on ecosystems within Europe. Marc discusses the impact of lockdown on the market place and what the research shows might happen for the rest of the year.  Margaret also looks at the 'hot-spots' in the industry and where there could be opportunities for partners / vendors to take advantage of.

Today Marc's guest is Scott Murphy. Scott leads the Ingram Micro Cloud and Advanced Solutions businesses in the UK&I. His sole objective is to evolve the way Ingram brings value to channel around Enterprise Solutions, with the goal of becoming the #1 strategic technology enabler. They talk about the changing demand from the Ingram customer base as well as the way the internal team have adapted to lockdown, including some innovative methods of keeping morale high amongst his team!

Today Marc has been joined by the CEO of security solution provider Annabel Berry. With people working from home a wide variety of security considerations have come into play - Annabel and Marc discuss how to best protect your systems in the current climate. They also talk about recruitment during lockdown and what the employment market might look like post Covid.