According to Richard Murray, chief commercial officer of Telarus, of the 40 or so applications from new vendors looking to join the Telarus stable that come in every month, the technology solutions distributor (TSD) turns down about 39. In most cases, that’s because those 39 vendors’ channel programs are not ready for prime time. Telarus’ New Gateway program serves as a “fast lane” for suppliers that need a bridge to building a full-scale partner program. Generally, when evaluating new vendors, Telarus looks for an applicant to have a minimum number of channel support personnel, an end-user billing and collection process, a commissioning system and particular rules of engagement for partners. New vendors also have to be prepared for the potential volume that can come once they are placed into Telarus’ national portfolio. All the while, onboarding can be time and resource intensive, forcing TSD such as Telarus to be selective. In some cases, however, a vendor serves an important or emerging niche, or is being requested by technology advisors (sub-agents), who might be getting asked about a vendor by their customers. The Gateway Program allows Telarus to maintain a standard with vendors that its tech advisors have come to expect while at the same time incubating new vendors to provide partners access to new technology. Members of the Telarus Gateway Program will not be initially available to the entire Telarus partner base. They will be available to a select set of advisors that must complete a process where they acknowledge the vendor’s resource limitations and essentially earn a certification. Vendors will conduct reviews with Telarus to check on the status of their billings, escalations and active partners. ICYMI FirstComm, a leader in cloud and technology solutions, announced that Paul Van Hyfte has joined the FirstComm team as its new CEO. Van Hyfte, together with FirstComm’s president and CFO Mark Sollenberger, will lead FirstComm in its transition to next generation technology growth. Van Hyfte brings 20 years of experience to his new role with a proven track record of innovative leadership with high-growth cloud and managed services-based companies. He most recently served as president of U.S. Signal, a cloud, fiber and co-location services provider that was acquired by a private equity firm. “Paul brings to the table a wealth of experience in scaling businesses with a focus on revenue growth and product innovation,” said FirstComm board member Joe Morris. “This hire is a natural next step for FirstComm, as we complete a long but successful decommissioning of our legacy network now focused on accelerating the growth of FirstComm’s digital next generation products.” “FirstComm is uniquely positioned to build on its 25-year history of providing leading-edge technology solutions and first-in-class service to its large and loyal business customers,” said Van Hyfte. “I look forward to working with the team to accelerate FirstComm’s momentum so we can serve even more customers in the future.” Unified SASE as a service provider Aryaka expanded its channel sales partnership with Sandler Partners, a TSD that serves a community of over 9,000 tech sales advisory partners. Under a new expanded agreement, Sandler Partners is now part of Aryaka’s Drive program for select strategic partners. Aryaka DRIVE is an exclusive program within the Aryaka Accelerate global partner program that includes strategic partners such as TSDs and white-label reseller partners. The DRIVE program has driven growth in partner-led sales for Aryaka’s unified SASE-as-a-service solution, said the company. “After working closely with Aryaka for the past three years, Sandler Partners has experienced their strong commitment to partners, firsthand,” said Sandler Partners CRO, Justin Marano. “With the DRIVE program, Aryaka has increased its investment in Sandler Partners and our independent partner community, including additional resources, strategic initiative planning and access to exclusive programs. This is why we’re doubling down on our partnership with Aryaka.” As part of the DRIVE program, Sandler Partners can empower elite sellers to participate in Aryaka’s THROTTLE program, which offers sales support including leads from accountbased sales and marketing campaigns, dedicated business development reps who follow up on leads and dedicated channel success managers who help retain and grow partner customer bases. “Sandler Partners has a very loyal, high-energy partner base with the technical aptitude and drive that Aryaka is looking for in next-generation partners to sell our advanced secure networking solutions,” said Derek Wood, Aryaka national channel director. “With our new partnership, Aryaka will offer its highest level of support to a new set of elite partner sellers, many exclusive to Sandler Partners, driving greater success for all parties.” FirstComm Names Van Hyfte New CEO Aryaka, Sandler Expand Channel Sales Agreement Telarus Unveils Gateway Program to Assist New Vendor Onboarding 64 CHANNELVISION | JULY - AUGUST 2024
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