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CV: What do you think are the
greatest market opportunities
for channel partners for 2017?
CP:
There is an incredible op-
portunity in many of our channel
partners’ existing customer bases,
as well as opportunities to gain ex-
pertise and help businesses expand
into Asia. The market is expanding
at double-digit rates, and U.S. busi-
nesses are either expanding in the
region or looking to enter the market.
Asia is the world’s largest eco-
nomic region, and home to around
half of the world’s Internet users.
Telstra has decades of experience
working with customers in the re-
gion, and continued growth is an
integral part of our future. For ex-
ample, we have been operating in
China for more than 20 years, and
today our joint venture Telstra PBS
is one of the only partially foreign-
owned companies providing value-
added network and data center
services on the Mainland.
Opportunities in China have
been a leading reason for agents
to engage Telstra, and helping
expand conversations with custom-
ers to drive new opportunities. We
also continue to innovate and sup-
port our customers with talent from
around the world, creating excep-
tional experiences for them.
CV: What about the greatest
challenges?
CP:
The biggest challenge for
channel partners and their customers
is often not knowing how to get things
done in Asia, where they don’t neces-
sarily have a lot of experience. Unlike
the U.S., where for the most part there
is consistency over a large geography,
Asia’s markets are very diverse, and
each has nuances and characteristics
that create opportunities for Telstra to
use its expertise to help.
CV: How has your partner
ecosystem changed in the past
year or so, and what do you
expect going into 2017?
CP:
Recently, we’ve been en-
thusiastically pursuing relationships
with strategic channel organizations,
including adding channel managers
to work with agents throughout the
country. The U.S. market and how
the channel community there is po-
sitioned are unique and cannot be
found on a large scale in the rest of
the world. We are looking for ways
to extend our focus from customers
based in the U.S. to agents who are
focused on customer opportunities
in Europe and Asia. As a global
service provider, the channel com-
munity is very important in helping
us reach customers and leveraging
relationships. When we get opportu-
nities through our channel partners,
we bring resources to bear in the
U.S. and in markets throughout Asia
to help our partners care for their
customers.
CV: What investments has Telstra
made in the channel community
of late?
CP:
We’ve dedicated more re-
sources to the channel community,
as well as added solutions-engi-
neering resources, and have been
very aggressive in participating in
channel events throughout the U.S.
Since joining Telstra in 2013, Jason
Kitzmiller has been a driving force
behind the rapid expansion of the
channel program and brings more
than a decade of experience within
the channel community, as well as
extensive international sales experi-
ence. He has built a dedicated team
across the U.S., with access to all of
Telstra’s resources, including almost
4,000 employees in 22 countries
outside of Australia. And, we are
very fortunate to have a very experi-
enced team working with Jason. Kit,
Anthin, Dennis, and Marco all bring
extensive channel backgrounds to
work with our partners.
CV: What’s guiding your overall
company mission going forward?
CP:
Our vision is to become a
world-class technology company
that empowers people to connect. To
achieve this vision, we have a corpo-
rate strategy that highlights where our
people, customers and shareholders
can expect to see us creating value,
and our vision and purpose articulate
our company’s goals. The corporate
strategy, which has three pillars,
outlines how we will achieve this am-
bition. The first is to deliver brilliant
customer experiences; the second
is to drive value and growth from the
core; and the third is to build growth
in businesses close to the core. The
strategic enablers are building net-
works for the future, digitization, and
culture and capabilities.
CV: What does the future hold for
Telstra and its U.S. agent program?
CP:
At the annual Pacific Telecom
Council conference in Honolulu in
January, we introduced several excit-
ing network initiatives that will continue
to enhance our ability to provide ad-
ditional services and an improved
customer experience. The “always-on”
service between Tokyo, Hong Kong
and Singapore leverages multiple sub-
sea routes to provide greater levels
of redundancy between these key
markets. We’ve invested in enhancing
our networks in Taiwan and Korea to
strengthen our terrestrial networks and
connect multiple sub-sea routes. Up-
grades to the China network and the
ability to leverage multiple access and
backhaul opportunities in the U.S. are
all designed to create more opportuni-
ties and help us develop more solu-
tions to meet customer needs.
The combination of Pacnet’s as-
sets, capacity and expertise, along
with Telstra’s dynamic networks, tech-
nology and services, makes Telstra
the ideal global technology partner
for the channel community and their
customers. The Telstra Channel Part-
ner Program is your smart choice for
international opportunities.
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March - April, 2017
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Channel
Vision