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Pax8 announced its first live instructor-led, eight- week course, dubbed MSP Foundations and billed as “delivering managed service providers (MSPs) key fundamentals for developing a dynamic and profitable business.” Offered through Pax8’s partner education program Pax8 Academy, the program includes courses in finance, sales, marketing, and operations, covering topics such as determining profitability and establishing a repeatable sales process. Attending partners will have the opportunity to network and collaborate with peers from different regions and verticals and participate in interactive workshops, applying critical learnings specific to their businesses, said Pax8. “Pax8 has a unique opportunity to share best practic- es and offer education to enable successful business growth through MSP Foundations,” said Nick Heddy, chief revenue officer at Pax8. “We built this program so we can offer MSPs advanced knowledge, insights, and tools to be successful with cloud technology and build a robust recurring revenue business.” Pax8’s MSP Foundations courses are designed for MSPs with five or fewer employees or that have been providing managed services for less than two years. Those that have completed MSP Foundations course averaged a 71 percent revenue increase within six months, said the cloud app provider. CHANNEL MANAGEMENT Pax8 Launches MSP Education Program l transform our company y never tantially nsform l transform our industry Top Challenges for B2B Channel Programs Source: Channel Pulse; 2021 Partners Ineffective Sales & Marketing Capabilities Inefficient Access to Data/Analytics Tools Poor Analytics for ROI Time-to-Revenue Insufficient Channel Team Headcount Insufficient Channel Budget Not Enough Revenue Per Partner Inadequate Partner Mindshare to Partner Program Improve Alignment of Business Goals with Partners Help Partners Migrate to New Business Models 4% 3% 45% 50% 40% 39% 35% 33% 32% 32% 29% 29% 28% The Channel’s Big Challenges While ineffective sales and marketing capabilities from channel partners is the greatest challenge for B2B channel program manag- ers, both B2B (39%) and B2C (43%) channel leaders agree that the issue of poor analytics to determine ROI is a significant challenge for their programs. Indeed, it was the number one challenge mentioned by B2C channel programs leaders, according to a recent Channel Pulse poll. Amy Regan Returning to the channel, Regan was recently named channel sales manager for Ooma. Lauri Martinez Formerly at PGi, Martinez is now VP of channel marketing at Broadvoice. Vern Jaques A veteran of BullsEye Telecom, Jaques joined BCN as partner sales director Roger Blohm Moving over from Telarus, Blohm was appointed senior vice president of partner solutions for PPT Solutions. Rick Ribas Following a run at Intelisys, Ribas is the new VP of channels and alliances at Fusion Connect. Jon Heaps After developing channel programs at Talkdesk, inContact and Corvisa, Heaps is the new VP of channel at  Observe.AI. Denny Doherty Doherty has been appointed as BigLeaf’s partner development manager. Robert Brower Cloud data protection and management company Druva named Brower as SVP of worldwide partners and alliances. Recent Channel Manager Moves & Promotions 44 CHANNEL V ISION | May 2021