Mar/Apr 19 - ChannelVision Magazine

channel management Recently, Parker also added a new executive team member; chief revenue officer Bob Laskey will head up global sales and marketing. It’s the start of a new era for Maser- gy, and one that’s shaping up to be defined by significant growth and de- velopment, said company executives. Masergy will aggressively expand its partnerships in an effort to reach its target goal of generating at least $1 billion in revenue. Masergy is currently focusing on four key markets – most notably SD-WAN, which Parker says is now coming up in al- most every single enterprise conversation. “There is certainly a growing trend around SD-WAN, which promises to have a CAGR north of 75 percent for at least the next three years,” said Parker, who also expects to see more interest in hybrid WAN moving forward. “The other category where we see tremendous growth potential for us is UCaaS, as more enterprises continue migrating to the cloud. Tied to UCaaS, of course, is the cloud con- tact center. And wrapped around all of those services is managed security. So we will continue to expand in all of these markets.” To capitalize on these trends, Masergy is reassessing its current dis- tribution and go-to-market strategies. Masergy’s partner channel, however, will remain a core part of its growth strategy moving forward. It’s not hard to see why. “Over 75 percent of Masergy’s sales today come from our chan- nel, mostly through master and sub agents,” Parker says. “We have seen a 15 to 20 percent increase in our channel bookings over the last several years, and we continue to have a very strong route to market through that sub-agent/agent partner type.” Masergy, it should be noted, plans to go even deeper with its channel partners this year, as the company is working with partners to increase their capabilities and help them service customers more easily. The company also intends to bring in new channel incentives, launch new de- mand generation programs and joint marketing initiatives. “We are clearly known in the mar- ket for delivering innovative services with a world class customer experi- ence,” said Parker. “That translates into the exceptional experience we want to deliver to our partners. We are continuing to make investments to drive higher levels of automation, guarantee competitive pricing and provide greater transparency and visibility for order flows.” At the same time, Masergy is planning to activate new partners and foster alternative channels, to achieve greater diversity in its part- ner route to market. The company also is planning to hire more team members, including solutions engineers and specialists to support joint sales and channel efforts. Masergy recently announced that it was named the only Visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Global Network Services. “To us, being named the sole Visionary provider among a crowded field of competitors affirms how Masergy empowers businesses to achieve their digital ambitions through our software-defined platform and unparalleled customer experience,” said Parker. o Masergy Turns up Channel By Gerald Baldino Masergy’s James Parker M asergy is now under the direction of a new CEO, former Microsoft and Tata executive James Parker, who has been at the helm since Dec. 1. 104 Channel Vision | March - April, 2019