‘7 Minutes’ with LiveAction Channel Chief Joe O’Connor

**Editor’s Note: “7 Minutes” is a feature where we ask channel executives from startups – or companies that may be new to the Channel Partners audience – a series of quick questions about their businesses and channel programs.**

LiveAction is looking to keep companies’ and MSPs’ network-performance monitoring and diagnostic capabilities up to the task of managing software-defined and intent-based networks. Besides basic visibility, NPMD solutions are used to find the source of performance problems, then drill into the root cause. They can help with complex multicloud and SD-WAN deployments, so value extends outside the campus network. The company’s LiveNX is tuned to provide deep insights into Cisco’s iWAN SD-WAN solution, based on Viptela. LiveAction also recently acquired NPMD challenger Savvius and appointed Datto and Cisco alum Brooks Borcherding as president and CEO.

LiveAction’s former EVP and COO, Dana Matsunaga, previously shared his insights into the challenges posed by intent-based networking.

LiveAction’s Joe O’Connor

Customer admins might be using a mix of net monitoring tools from the likes of Ipswitch, NetScout, Riverbed or SolarWinds, but Joe O’Connor, who leads LiveAction’s channels and alliances team and sets channel and go-to-market strategy for the company, says next-gen networks need new insights.

Like Borcherding, O’Connor spent time at Cisco, where he led IoT/smart-building initiatives.

Channel Partners: Tell us what customers love about your product or service. What’s the secret selling sauce?

Joe O’Connor: LiveAction has a clear and compelling value proposition for network operations teams: We simplify the management of increasingly complex enterprise networks. Macro trends like digital transformation, multicloud and software-defined networks are compelling, but they each exponentially increase the complexity of the network fabric. When an issue surfaces, the network operations teams face the classic “needle in a haystack” situation. What is the issue? What is the source? Is it the network? An application? A device? A user? Is it severe?

LiveAction is an enterprise software company that simplifies the network for IT organizations to deliver continuous insight, service assurance and precise control. Customers rave about our visual user interface, the elegant simplicity and the ability to quickly identify the root cause of an issue. They tell us having a solution such as ours enables them to ease their network operations, thereby freeing them up to devote more time to other critical issues. You could describe our customers as “raving fans,” which is reflected in our extremely high Net Promoter Score (NPS), primarily because we drive the success of the network operations teams. We help them quickly find the elusive needle, simply and efficiently.

CP: Describe your channel program — metal levels, heavy on certifications, open or selective, unique features? Do you work with masters and/or distributors?

JO: LiveAction is a channel-led business with a channel program built to serve the needs of VARs and system integrators. The program has three levels – platinum, gold and authorized – with increasing benefits associated with each tier. As you may expect, each tier requires …