Windstream’s New Channel Chief to Build on Curt Allen’s Foundation

Curt Allen has been the face of Windstream‘s partner program since the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February, and now the torch has been passed to a new leader as the restructuring process continues.

Windstream’s Matt Milliron

Matt Milliron, formerly Windstream Enterprise’s vice president of channel sales, is now channel chief and head of strategic channels, while Allen, previously president of strategic channels, has moved to an advisory role.

Allen emerged from retirement in October 2017 to take over as Windstream’s channel chief. His hiring was always planned to be short term, and part of his role during his tenure was to develop a succession plan, according to the company.

Milliron was hired by Windstream Enterprise nearly a year ago as the successor-in-waiting, allowing Allen to transition into his new advisory role, according to the company.

Milliron led development of the recently launched Channel Integration program.

In a Q&A with Channel Partners, Milliron talks about his plans as Windstream‘s channel chief and what partners can expect in the months ahead.

Channel Partners: How is your role going to be changing?

Matt Milliron: We have officially transitioned the day-to-day responsibilities and we have started the new role capacity. Previously, my role in the program was primarily focused on leading the channel managers across the nation and operationalizing the cadence that would allow for our partners to further their reach with our strategic solutions. We’ve done a really good job of that in 2019. But the new role will continue on with these foundational practices, but also include our reseller program, which we are enthusiastic about.

In addition, to assist in our channel integration efforts, we are now launching new business development teams across the country to further support our partner experience.

CP: Curt Allen faced a lot of new challenges once Windstream filed for Chapter 11. What will be your approach in dealing with partners as the Chapter 11 process continues?

MM: Curt, our internal channel teams and our partners all face challenges as part of the restructuring process. Our organization is sympathetic to that and part of our go-forward strategy is to continue to build upon the foundation that Curt established. We are laser-focused on providing a world-class experience for our partners and our customers, and those are the goals that we’re chartering forward with. We want to lead with industry leading technologies, and our focus is to continue to earn the trust and loyalty every day of our partners by allocating the human resources and also the technology solutions that will allow our partners to see increased benefits of partnering with us and selling our robust portfolio of solutions.

CP: Any latest information partners need to know regarding the Chapter 11 process? Is emerging from Chapter 11 on the horizon?

MM: The timeline for emerging from restructuring is still speculative, but what I can share is that the organization is executing on our operational priorities and continually working to provide our partners and customers the care and support they deserve. We have seen…