Title: Vice President, One Communications Business Partner Program
Years in current position: 1
Years with current company: 1
Years in the indirect channel: 18

Past jobs in the indirect channel: Vice president channel, Qwest; founding partner, MarketRace.

Main channel goal: “Deliver a world-class Business Partner program based on customer and partner experience, revenue and profit growth, and industry leading ethics.”

Biggest challenge: “Changing the corporate culture that has been built extensively on a direct sales force and getting the systems and tools needed to support the Business Partners.”

What is the importance of the indirect channel to your organization? “The Business Partner Channel is viewed as the future growth engine at One Communications. The Business Partner channel represents the lowest cost, lowest churn and highest revenue per sale and revenue per employee of any sales channel at One Communications.”

To what extent do you, personally, show leadership within the companies you have worked for, the business community at large, the communications industry and the channel? “I try to lead by example and have built the program around discipline and rigor tied to a strong commitment to ethics in the channel.”

Why do you consider yourself to be innovative in bringing new ideas to the channel? “I bring almost two decades of experience with me having built and run one of the largest and most successful channel programs at Qwest. My unique experience in creating and managing channel programs leverages my experience at Qwest, MarketRace and One Communications with the integration of multiple programs through acquisition, creating opportunities for channel integration and leading management principals with a focus on ethics.”

To what extent do you engage in activities to promote or advance the channel? “I have been a frequent speaker, have written many published articles and participated in online blogs and other electronic means of communication.”

Favorite song: “Terrapin Station,” by Grateful Dead

What others are saying about Michael:

“Michael has the experience, acumen, knowledge, intelligence and critical decision making capabilities that are all the traits necessary for a top channel leader. His track record is one of success. Michael is a good guy, and personally I respond to and work well with people that in my estimation fall into that category.”
— Emmet Tydings, President, AB&T Telecom, master agent