https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • Analytics
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud
    • Data Centers
    • Desktop
    • IoT
    • Mobility
    • Networking
    • Open Source
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Virtualization
    • Voice/Connectivity
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Best Practices
    • Business Models
    • Channel 101
    • Channel Programs
    • Channel Research
    • Digital Transformation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Leadership
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Specialty Practices
  • MSSP Insider
    • Back
    • Business of Security
    • Cloud and Edge
    • Endpoint
    • Network
    • People and Careers
    • Training and Policies
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Our Sponsors
    • From the Industry
    • Content Resources
    • COVID-19 Partner Help
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Reports
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • EMEA
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • 2020 MSP 501
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Partners Evolution
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
  • Channel Mentor
    • Back
    • Channel Market Intelligence
    • Channel Educational Series
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • Analytics
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud
    • Data Centers
    • Desktop
    • IoT
    • Mobility
    • Networking
    • Open Source
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Virtualization
    • Voice/Connectivity
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Best Practices
    • Business Models
    • Channel 101
    • Channel Programs
    • Channel Research
    • Digital Transformation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Leadership
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Specialty Practices
  • MSSP Insider
    • Back
    • Business of Security
    • Cloud and Edge
    • Endpoint
    • Network
    • People and Careers
    • Training and Policies
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Our Sponsors
    • From the Industry
    • Content Resources
    • COVID-19 Partner Help
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Reports
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • EMEA
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • 2020 MSP 501
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Partners Evolution
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
  • Channel Mentor
    • Back
    • Channel Market Intelligence
    • Channel Educational Series
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Digital Service Providers
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • CHANNEL PARTNERS ONLINE
 Channel Futures

Leadership


Handshake Greeting Business

Meet the Channel: Genesys CEO Paul Segre Says Look to Different Markets to Survive Change

  • Written by Kris Blackmon
  • July 24, 2018
It can be hard to see the path to success in a space as tumultuous as the IT channel is right now. Paul Segre shares his trick for Genesys.

Meet the Channel is a recurring Channel Futures column that examines channel trends through the history and experience of those who work in it. We caught up with Paul Segre, CEO of call center and customer experience solution provider Genesys, to talk about how the relationship between telco and IT has changed in the last two decades and how to build a culture that can go the distance.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Channel Futures: You’ve made quite a name for yourself and Genesys over in the contact-center space. How long have you worked in that sector?

Paul Segre: I started in Genesys in 2002. Before that I was in telecom broadband. I was always on the product-management side of the business through general management until I joined Genesys as CTO. I did that for about 18 months and then moved into [sales, service and support]. I have a strong belief in career development both in myself and for others that you should be moving every three years.

But I’ve been CEO since 2007, and I have to pitch to new employees who are asking, “You’ve been CEO for more than 10 years, so how is that consistent?” My answer is that you need to change the company every three to four years. You’re changing things not just from a technology perspective, but when it comes to process, tools, culture.

Paul Segre

CF: In your telco years with AT&T and others, did you have much interaction with the partner community?

PS: Not so much. AT&T … was a direct business for selling carrier equipment to telcos or software to telcos, so it was always a direct thing. That’s actually one of the things I wanted out of Genesys was to get into a more enterprise-focused cycle where you have 11,000 customers. Alcatel acquired Genesys [in 1999], and I moved down a year later.

At Alcatel, in my last year, 75 percent of my revenue was two customers that did about $1.4 billion [of that].

CF: That’s a dangerous place to be. Did you ever watch Mad Men? They were your Lucky Strike account.

PS: It really was. It’s crazy. Part of what I wanted personally was to get more into selling to a large number of enterprises and more industries being billed direct as well as indirect. And we are about two-thirds of sales through partners, and even where we are direct, we’ll often have technology partners.

CF: The early 2000s was a big time of change, one of the big sea changes in tech. What are some of the other waves you and Genesys have ridden out, and what’s your strategy there?

PS: What we’ve done pretty consistently is look for discontinuities in the market. In the early years, pretty much the first two decades, it was all about the shift from things being proprietary integrated hardware and software to just being software. So whenever something became a software thing, we would move in and have the competitive advantage because we were a software company, whereas the previous [leaders] were hardware companies. You can think about Cisco and Avaya, who came out of that hardware background and, I would argue, have never made the transition to really being a software-type company.

Most recently, it’s extended that idea [of transition] into the transition to cloud. Lately, we’ve been looking at discontinuities where … different markets are merging. So you can think about digital merging with voice. WFO, workforce optimization, has been a separate market historically, but it’s converging with our market so we have the early movers driving the innovation of that. The idea is always looking to expand into markets that play to our strengths, both technological and brand strengths.

CF: So how have those conversations with customers changed?

PS: In those early days, sales was primarily to the telecom departments. We tried to disrupt those players by saying it wasn’t about telephony, it’s about IT. Obviously, players like Cisco and Avaya came in and started selling to IT, so we moved more up the business. Even when you’re selling to IT people, the talk within IT is not about speeds and feeds, but about business partners and IT for business. Today when we look at who we sell to, it’s … roughly 50-50 between business and IT, but even the IT people tend to be fairly business savvy. People care about the technology, but what they really want to see is how am I going to get value? How can I measure the value? How long is it going to take to get the value?

The other key thing is that yes, there is a technology sale, but I would say that it’s more about people being convinced that you’re going to be there for the long term. When they buy in to us, they’re actually buying a product that will survive their vision. Maybe they can roughly see out three years, and maybe if they’re really good, maybe five years, but beyond that, it’s all foggy. We have lots of customers that have been with us for 15 years or more. For them, they understand that they need a partner who’s gonna have to be there because it’s a big commitment to deploy the type of systems that we have.

CF: How have all of these changes impacted the culture at Genesys?

PS: I think the hardest challenge for us is that five years ago, we were a company of 1,500 people. Now we’re a company of 5,000. The last six years, we made 16 acquisitions. [As] part of our acquisitions we always look at cultural fit, but it’s never perfect. Even if they’re very similar, it’s not the same. Change is hard. Do the people fit in? We’re pretty, I would say, intolerant if you don’t really like to be nice. We’re collaborative, and if you’re not nice and collaborative, you’re probably not going to be here. If you’re not achieving, we’ll be very nice about it, but we’ll separate ways.

The biggest challenge of our customers is breaking down silos. If you think about it, you have the telecom silo and a digital silo, maybe a geographic silo or internet and voice and data. A lot of what we need to do now is be fluent in all these different silos and help them break things down. Internally, we need to help people think about future stakes. Which, if you’re focusing only on one silo, then you’re not going to get the right result.

Internally, some of that is on product. Breaking down product silos requires us to connect and to engage, because what we’re trying to do is offer one face to our customers. It’s a somewhat personal choice, to set the vision and set the culture of collaboration to help people get to that. I think that’s my philosophy. There are other ways to do it. That’s our way.

Tags: Cloud Service Providers Digital Service Providers MSPs VARs/SIs Leadership Mergers and Acquisitions MSP 501 Sales & Marketing Strategy Voice/Connectivity

Related


  • Select a Hire
    Commvault Partners Get New Global Leader with Dell EMC Vet
    Mercer Rowe is moving to a new role strengthening Commvault's Asia Pacific business.
  • Channel Partners Virtual Banner Header CF
    Don't Wait for Fall's 'Homecoming' Channel Event — CP Virtual 2021 Is Coming Soon
    Content for Channel Partners Virtual doesn't take a backseat to what you get at our live events.
  • View of globe from space
    Presidio Plans International Expansion with Arkphire Acquisition
    Arkphire rapidly expanded after acquiring Trilogy Technologies.
  • Money Bag
    Pax8 Follows Wirehive Acquisition with $96 Million in New Equity Capital
    The new funding will allow Pax8 to better support partners.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Cybersecurity Top Priority Among IT Leaders, AI/Automation Not So Much
  • Netwrix-Stealthbits Merger Kicks Off 2021 Cybersecurity M&A
  • Microsoft Source Code Accessed by SolarWinds Hackers
  • Alteryx Chooses Palo Alto Networks Vet to Lead Go-to-Market Plan

Galleries

View all

New, Changing Partner Programs: AWS, Tech Data, Avaya, Verizon

January 11, 2021

Industry Perspectives

View all

Help Your Customers Mitigate Malware: Viruses, Worms, and Trojans…Oh My!

January 15, 2021

SMBs’ Cybersecurity Risk Awareness Is Rising

January 13, 2021

Your Cloud Data Is Protected, But Is It Portable?

January 12, 2021

Webinars

View all

Blueprint for a Scalable MSSP Practice in 2021

January 21, 2021

Who’s Behind the Mask? Hacker Personas Explained

January 26, 2021

How Managed Hosting Providers Thrive with the Alternative Cloud

February 24, 2021

White Papers

View all

Why Subscription Business Model

January 15, 2021

The Ultimate MSP Guide to Sales Efficiency

January 14, 2021

Eight Reasons Why MSPs Need IT Industry-Specific Sales Tools

January 14, 2021

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Virtual

March 2, 2021 - March 4, 2021

Channel Partners Conference & Expo

November 1, 2021 - November 4, 2021

Videos and Fastchats

View all

FASTCHAT: How SOAR Eliminates Security Challenges and Elevates Service Provider Revenues

January 6, 2021

Happy Holidays from Channel Partners & Channel Futures!

December 21, 2020

FASTCHAT: How Old, Unpatched Technologies Are Creating New Security Threats for MSPs and Their Customers

December 3, 2020

Twitter

ChannelFutures

.@IBMServices snaps up #MSP Taos for #hybridcloud expertise. dlvr.it/RqggQR https://t.co/Fy3uPDtLNw

January 16, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@LenovoBusiness launches its thinnest #ThinkPad to date @CES, revamped ThinkBooks and #ThinkReality glasses.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 16, 2021
ChannelFutures

Help your customers mitigate #malware @Tech_Data #cryptolocker #antivirus #ransomware #cybersecurity… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 15, 2021
ChannelFutures

Advantages of the Subscription business model for MSPs and IT Resellers @kaspersky dlvr.it/RqgDJn https://t.co/ay694fudp3

January 15, 2021
ChannelFutures

Cloud #distributor @Pax8 launches in UK with leadership team in place. dlvr.it/RqfJWx https://t.co/RsKDCowM5V

January 15, 2021
ChannelFutures

bit.ly/3oO2vFY twitter.com/Craig_Galbrait…

January 15, 2021
ChannelFutures

The Ultimate MSP Guide to Sales Efficiency @zomentum dlvr.it/Rqc63q https://t.co/rHIVLkR01K

January 15, 2021
ChannelFutures

Eight Reasons Why MSPs Need IT Industry-Specific Sales Tools dlvr.it/Rqc62k https://t.co/MQDcIYc7G9

January 15, 2021

MSSP Insider

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Channel Partners Online

Want more? Find more channel news and analysis on our sister site, Channel Partners.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Online
  • Channel Partners Events
  • MSP 501
  • MSSP Insider
  • IoT World Today
  • Webhostingtalk

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X