Telco agents and MSPs seem, on the surface, to operate in completely separate worlds. They have different financial models, sales compensation strategies and client conversations, not to mention different approaches to IT.

But many agents are looking toward managed services to up their recurring revenue and create ongoing stickiness with their customers. This pivot sounds great in theory, but in practice, it can be almost impossible to figure out on your own. Fear not, it can be done.

At the upcoming Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, agents who have “been there, done that,” will explain how. Jared Martin, vice president, MSx managed services at TPx Communications, will lead these experts in a discussion entitled “Agents Can Sell Managed Services. Here’s How,” March 10, part of the sales and marketing track sponsored by Nextiva,  to lay out how to integrate managed services into your existing agent business model.

Channel Partners spoke to two of the three panelists: Matt Kanaskie, vice president of sales operations at Marco Technologies, and Nancy Ridge, founder and president of Ridge Innovative, as well as moderator Jared Martin to get the scoop.

HEAR THE SCOOP!

Join Martin, Kanaskie, Ridge and 100+ industry-leading speakers, more than 6,400 partners and 300+ key vendors, distributors and master agents at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo, March 9-12. Register now!

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“Regardless of what our particular circumstances are, or where we are in our digital transformation journey, the key is developing a growth mindset. With that, any hurdle can be overcome.”
— Nancy Ridge

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New Business Growth Consultancy Ridge Innovative Delivers “Innovation with Purpose” to Channel Companies

Founder and CEO Nancy Ridge Shares Industry Insights and Business Game Plan for Success at Channel Partners Evolution #CPEvolution

Washington DC – Sept 9, 2019 – Industry influencer, celebrated channel sales executive and motivational speaker Nancy Ridge is helping tech and telecom’s emerging and established companies and leaders identify challenges and solve for business outcomes as the Founder and CEO of Ridge Innovative.

Debuting this week at Channel Partners Evolution, Ridge Innovative is a business and channel sales optimization consultancy, differentiated by its ability to deliver “innovation with purpose.”

“A solid strategy without successful execution is useless, and the same is true for business innovation without purpose,” says Ridge. “At Ridge Innovative, we prioritize purpose, in addition to people, processes and technology. As trusted advisors, we are helping our clients make better business decisions and apply meaningful innovation to achieve results.”

Headquartered in Southern California, the new firm helps clients grow more profitably and scale success by implementing customized strategies and tactics that net the right results and deliver elevated excellence and an unbeatable experience. Ridge Innovative also offers refined go-to-market expertise, training and enablement services around four technology solutions categories: Cloud, Connectivity, Managed Services and Voice.

“Today’s market is fiercely competitive and crowded, which means corporations and channel leaders not only need to nail the basics, but continually find new and better ways to collaborate and create more value now and in the future,” says Ridge. “We’re excited to engage with the channel ecosystem as Ridge Innovative, and look forward to sharing our expertise and experiences at this week’s Channel Partners Evolution event.”

Those in attendance at Channel Partner Evolution can catch Ridge live during the following presentation:

Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, 2 pm in the Channel Future Theatre: “Data Center: Three Trends Changing the Game for Partners”

As a founder and past present of the Alliance of Channel Women (ACW), Ridge is also attending this evening’s ACW community event at Channel Partners Evolution.

General information about Ridge Innovative’s leadership, expertise, client services and solutions are available at www.ridgeinnovative.com. Upcoming events include a panel at INCOMPAS in Louisville, KY on Nov. 4, 2019 at 4 pm called “How to be a woman in technology.”

To follow and engage with Nancy Ridge on Twitter visit www.twitter.com/Nancy_Ridge and connect on LinkedIn.

About Ridge Innovative 

Ridge Innovative brings more than 25 years of experience as a trusted advisor to enterprise and SMB clients. With a focus on business outcomes, Ridge Innovative helps clients improve their connectivity, mobility, cloud and application services to meet changing competitive environments, improve employee productivity and increase efficiency. In addition, we offer programs for developing channels, leadership, team selling and one-on-one professional coaching.  Ridge Innovative is at the forefront of delivering digital transformation while building lasting relationships across the landscape of service providers, key partners and clients.

# # #

Press Contact:

PR@ridgeinnovative.com

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“At Ridge Innovative, we prioritize purpose, in addition to people, processes and technology. As trusted advisors, we are helping our clients make better business decisions and apply meaningful innovation to achieve results.”

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Temperatures in the low 50’s, steadily falling rain and a stiff breeze didn’t deter a healthy group of digital leaders from showing up at the annual IDC Conference in Silicon Valley this year. Senior Analyst, Frank Gens congratulated the crowd of mostly CIO’s and CTO’s for their hardiness and commitment to receiving the message of “Multiplied Innovation: Scaling a Technology Revolution”. As he launched into his comprehensive, on-point assessment of what we can expect in the next 5 years, I felt the lightness and excitement in the room overtake the grey outdoors to create an atmosphere of possibility that would fuel the day into overdrive for the next 8 hours.

Massive technological changes

Since 2014, we’ve witnessed massive changes in technology and how it’s used, who is buying it, and what’s driving innovation. Cloud, social, mobility, and anywhere access have driven transformation across every segment of business, government, education, non-profits and consumers. Organizations are beginning to embrace technologies like SD-WAN, UCaaS, and big data analytics to enable them to remain competitive and relevant. AWS and Azure have brought cloud to the masses and established themselves as the dominant platforms for digital transformation. Whole new eco-systems of service providers have sprung up in response to the changing needs of both the enterprise and SMB’s.

From my vantage point, the next phase of this “technology revolution” will allow me to support my clients in their new digital world; the reality that on-going innovation will become the “new normal”. More than ever, I am inspired to help them choose the right partners.

A few of the tastiest tidbits I took from a packed day that barely scratched the surface of what was being presented, included:

• Edge computing is the future of distributed networks and IoT. The big public cloud players like AWS, Amazon, and Microsoft need to get to the Edge quickly…in factories, banks, schools, retail stores…everywhere. This is where the next generation of technologies like blockchain, IoT, and AI will find distribution that will move the most important stacks from the core data center to the end user. Solving the latency problem is the driver and companies who can deliver the technology to the Edge in a cost effective manner that gives customers visibility and control will be leaders in this massive shift. IDC predicts 65% of operations will be at the Edge by 2022.
• Business outcomes are what matter. As I continue to seek to align myself with all the stakeholders in my customers’ organizations, choosing the right platform partners while focusing on scale, expansion, and new technologies will demonstrate recognition of the many problems they must solve to meet increasing compliance requirements, respond to greater security and privacy threats and remain competitive.
• I will continue to effectively deliver all forms of access, especially 5G as it becomes available. A distributed, secure network that can respond to customer needs quickly will be critical. Focusing on seamless delivery that is easy to deploy, consume and manage will be a key driver as well as maintaining and expanding my eco-system of providers for flexible IT consumption and purchasing models. This eco-system will address both the mega platform providers as well as emerging tier 2 and MSP’s who can better serve the SMB.
• AI, and IoT will be critical. IDT predicts the top digital transformational use cases for AI will be: Customer Service, Threat/Fraud Analysis, Sales Recommendation & Automation, and Diagnostics & Treatment in HC. My objective will be to ask and answer the right questions, to be bold and to align with the things customers care about and will care about, creating processes that allow them to establish new KPI’s as they commit to their digital direction and set about executing it…always paying close attention to choosing the right partners along the way.
• Filling the Gaps A parting observation is that the gap I get to fill as trusted advisor is more critical than ever. Hiring and retaining the specialized talent needed in today’s enterprise is not getting easier or more cost effective so managed services will play a more significant role. IDT shared that 70% of organizations are having trouble sourcing skills. Management of discrete environments such as apps, infrastructure, network services and cloud services will be necessary. Helping customers adapt their cultures to embrace outsourcing and managed services will require sensitivity, empathy and a commitment to making positive change for valued employees while being agile enough to meet the dynamic needs of the organization.

Continuing to build relationships and actively collaborate with my partners who are positioning themselves to play their part in this “technology revolution” will be the key to success. To quote Frank Gens, “It is time for everyone who wants to be a part of this exciting, innovative revolution to step away from where we’ve been and get ready for the ride up the curve, it’ll be great.” Let’s go!

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“… the next phase of this “technology revolution” will allow me to support my clients in their new digital world; the reality that on-going innovation will become the “new normal.”

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