4. Stephen Semmelroth, Avant

Avant is working to prime its technology advisor base to sell with new customers and end users in mind in 2023. Pamlico-backed Avant heavily touted its investments in contact center as a service (CCaaS) and security last year. Now leaders in those practices say the technology services distributor (TSD) is working with supplier and seller partners to refine their sales strategies.

Stephen Semmelroth, senior director of security, sat down for a conversation with Channel Futures about the trends and initiatives in their respective space.

Semmelroth made waves when he said vendor partners reach an inflection point approximately two-and-a-half years into the partnership.

“And that’s where we start to hear the chief financial officers at the vendors say things like, ‘I see a path to being 100% indirect channel,’” he said.

He added that he hears positive feedback from vendors who previously didn’t know the channel existed.

“If they’re not going to make the big bet, they say that it’s key to their success, and it’s the elastic portion of their growth that’s making their investors happy,” he said.

Learn more about the Avant initiatives here.