ChannelVision Magazine

We sat down with Jason Kitzmiller, head of the U.S. channel at Telstra, to discuss how Telstra helps U.S. channel partners tap into opportunities in China and throughout Asia while still maintain- ing a focus on their core businesses. ChannelVision:Tell me a bit about Telstra’s latest portfolio initiatives that would be of interest to the channel community. Jason Kitzmiller: We’ve been working hard during the past year to keep improving both the products and services that our partners can sell to their customers, as well as the network that supports those services. That means the Telstra Channel team can work with our partners to create solutions to simply and successfully connect their customers to Asia. For example, we are investing in two new international subsea cable systems that will connect Hong Kong to the west coast of the United States. These investments will help partners meet the growing demand for network and managed services to connect to Asian growth, and maintain our position as the owner and operator of the largest Asia-Pacific subsea network. Our U.S. Telstra team is also excit- ed to offer unique, innovative solutions that empower our agents and their customers. The Telstra Programmable Network (TPN) offers on-demand, pay-as-you-go access to Asia Pacific’s leading network, so we can offer cus- tomers the ability to scale capacity up and down as required and only pay for what has been used. We have also introduced new security products and services that enable our U.S. agents to offer their customers secure and reli- able network services to Asia. We are able to connect customers to Asia because we own the largest intra-Asia network, recognized for its reliable, low-latency performance – serving 30 percent of active capacity in the region and comprising more than 250,000 miles of subsea cables and 2,000 points of presence worldwide. CV:What do you think are the greatest market opportunities for channel partners for 2018?What about the greatest challenges? JK: During the last few years, we’ve seen an increasing number of agents having conversations with their custom- ers about international expansion. Cus- tomers are seeing enormous opportuni- ties and our partners are well positioned to help them capitalize on this potential. Our partners can see incremental rev- enue, additional business and more stra- tegic partnership with their customers. That said, while the benefits can be significant, there can also be challeng- es that require help from partners with specific global focus and expertise. Asia is the world’s largest economic region and home to around half of the world’s internet users. Telstra has decades of experience working with customers in the region, and we have the focus and expertise to connect U.S. agents and their cus- tomers to new opportunities in Asia. Opportunities in China have been one of the leading reasons for agents to engage with our team. We have unique assets in China and have been oper- ating in the country for more than 20 years. Today, our joint venture Telstra PBS is one of the few foreign-owned companies licensed to provide network and data center services in China. We pride ourselves on our ability to help partners in Asia where they can take advantage of our on-the-ground expertise, turnkey solutions and unique Asian assets. We employ approximately 3,500 staff in more than 20 countries outside Australia, meaning we have lo- cal experience in many of the countries your customers need. By taking advan- tage of this focus and expertise in Asia, our partners can minimize challenges and maximize opportunities. CV: How has your partner ecosystem changed in the past year or so, and what do you expect going into 2018? JK: I think the partner ecosystem has begun to truly embrace the inter- national opportunity during the past few years. These deals have always been available, but master agents are now more confident involving interna- tional service providers and are build- ing out their global portfolios. This has led to more regular, deep- er conversations on the nature, scale and benefit of global opportunities from our partners. Telstra views our partner ecosystem as a longstanding strategic priority, and the past year has seen continued investment across Directions toAsia T elstra recently has made major investments in both its U.S. channel assets, its intra-Asia network, as well as its domestic connectivity to that network. Telsta’s U.S. team provides partners a direct route to business in China and across Asia International Agents Jason Kitzmiller, head of the Telstra’s U.S. channel Channel Vision | March - April, 2018 62