There’s opportunity for partners that adopt CPaaS, omnicloud and other services into their portfolio this year, according to TBI‘s Anish Patel.

TBI’s Anish Patel

Patel joined the master agent last fall to head up its emerging technologies unit. The “Tech Gurus” group features subject-matter experts in technologies like cloud communications and security. Patel said TBI is helping partners increase their business “beyond a network sale.”

“This role was created for a very specific reason, and that is to help our partners really change the game in 2020 and beyond by helping them pivot into selling more emerging technologies like SD-WAN, like cloud, like security, big data, AI and IoT,” Patel told Channel Partners. “Newer solutions to the channel that drive business forward.”

Patel said partners vary when it comes to the amount of next-gen technologies they sell; many are focusing heavily on adding emerging technologies in the upcoming year.

“We have a mix of partners that are at different levels of maturity when it comes to selling emerging technologies. My team has been super proactive in reaching out to partners to start discussing how they can elevate their game regardless of where they are,” he said.

Patel spent more than 20 years on the vendor side, working for GTT Communications, CenturyLink and Verizon. He said he’s excited to work with partners in a vendor-agnostic, consultative fashion and troubleshoot solutions in TBI’s Technology Evaluation Center Lab.

“In the past, I was more on the vendor-supplier side, and I was sort of boxed into the types of products and services that were available to me. That was my canvas. Now my canvas is 140-plus vendors at TBI, and we’re always adding new companies.”

Patel laid out four big technological areas where partners can step up their game in 2020. We’ve listed them in the gallery below.

“What’s really important is not just understanding the technology, but truly take a vendor-agnostic approach to articulate a strategy on how and why it aligns to the needs of the customer’s business.”