Profile: Cbeyond’s Zane Long, a CHEXOTY Finalist
Vice President, Indirect Channel
Cbeyond
Years in current position: Almost 2
Years with current company: Almost 2
Years in the indirect channel: 12
Annual revenue responsibility: $13 million
What key initiatives did you spearhead in 2011 that culminated in improvements for your channel partners?
In 2011, I launched Cbeyonds Master Agent program, and recruited and contracted the top master agents in the industry by providing an “agent friendly” agreement and rich compensation plans. In addition, I hired two veteran partner sales directors to ensure that we supported these masters in every way possible, which continued to improve the relationships and productivity of the master agents. Lastly, I helped ensure the best training in the industry through live and virtual learning opportunities on the latest technology such as cloud services. I also helped improve benefits to our master agents, including upfront spiffs for every new customer and simple plans with bundled offerings.
What are your three main goals for your channel program in 2012?
The channel will be part of leading the charge to help elevate and support Cbeyond as a leader at the intersection of secure network and cloud. It will be all about identifying and supporting the right channel partners during this critical turning point in our business; therefore three goals in 2012 for Cbeyond channel program include:
- Continue to provide our partners with consistent cloud training programs to ensure their cloud strategy matches ours.
- Attract cloud-centric” types of agents (ISVs, system integrators, web developers) to our program.
- Achieve 25 percent of revenue in cloud services.
What’s your prediction for the channel, overall, in 2012?
I predict that while the channel aligns with the emergence of cloud services, they will be looking first at organizations that have a true value proposition that can make a difference in their customers businesses. Theres a lot of noise out there in the space, therefore education and validation is critical. The simple question, Why are you different?” will be key.
