Telarus has re-hired Justin Chugg, appointing him its new chief innovation officer.
Chugg will lead its research and development arm, creating technology that will enable Telarus to engage in end-user demand generation and VAR recruitment for its partners.
“We are excited to welcome Justin Chugg back to our team,” said Adam Edwards, co-founder and CEO of Telarus. “His technological abilities and understanding of social media will be a huge help in attracting new customers and referral partners to our most loyal agents. He is a known quantity both inside Telarus and out, and we are certain he’ll move the needle for our partners as we continue to invest in their success.”
Chugg returns to Telarus after a two-year stint at New York-based Vocal IP Networx, where he served as VP of business development. Prior to that, he worked 11 years for Telarus, where he worked his way up to director of marketing. Chugg will be assuming the role of Chief Innovation Officer effective July 16, 2015; the title previously held by Telarus co-founder Patrick Oborn.
“Justin is a great person, not to mention a phenomenal talent,” added Patrick Oborn, co-founder of Telarus. “He is a key member of the Telarus formula for success, both now and into the future. Under his leadership we plan to build marketing automation tools that will allow us to scale as a marketing organization, attracting the best partners, referral sources, and customers. We learned early on in our company’s development that helping our partners with demand generation is a key differentiator and certain recipe for success. We grow when our partners grow, and no one understands this better than Justin. We are excited to have him back on our team.”
One of Chugg’s main initiatives is a system called “TAMI”, or the Telarus Automated Marketing Intelligence system. TAMI will be built in the cloud using virtual computing technology provided by Telarus provider NewCloud Networks. The system will spider the Internet, including social media sites, building lists that include target VARs for our partners, decision-makers inside of buildings that are close to fiber providers’ footprints, customers in the front-end of the telecom buying cycle, and prospect lists that will be invited to attend the Technology Innovation Conference the company plans to roll out across the country in the coming months. TAMI will also be used in the new Telarus NOC, which will monitor the IP addresses of end-user/provider routers to ensure proper functionality. In the event a site loses Internet service, TAMI will be programmed to alert the provider and create a trouble ticket on the customer (and partner’s) behalf.
“I am excited to return to the company that has done so much for so many of its partners and employees,” said Chugg. “Our industry is full of opportunity, but finding the right customers for the right partners for the right providers is a very complicated and time-sensitive puzzle. It takes multiple data points and a super-computer to help us make those connections for our providers and partners, helping them both grow. TAMI has been a dream of mine for some time and I am very excited to leverage all of the assets of Telarus to bring it to life. But above all else, the best part about my work is that it benefits some of the best people you’ll ever meet: the Telarus channel partner community.”
