CHANNEL CHIEF
MIKE SHEPPARD is Director of Channels and Alliances at Panasas , a data storage company that creates network-attached storage for technical computing environments . Sheppard describes his management philosophy as being results-orientated and doesn ’ t believe in micromanaging people . He outlines here how Panasas is developing its data storage business and engaging with channel partners in the EMEA market .
dDescribe your current job role and the parts that are somewhat challenging ? I ’ m the Director of Channels and Alliances at Panasas , where we build data storage solutions designed for high-performance applications in manufacturing , life sciences , energy , media , financial services , and government . I focus on recruiting and onboarding new reseller , distributor , and alliance partners , as well as fortifying relationships with our existing partners . The main challenge is that many companies out there are not very familiar with Panasas , but I am working to change that !
Can you explain how your company works with channel partners ?
We have a dedicated partner programme that includes a partner portal hub , marketing and demand generation support , and deal registration that rewards and protects partners ’ investments for seeking out new customer opportunities .
XL is optimised for massive-scale data environments and workloads with cooler and reference datasets and large file sizes . Our flagship product , the hybrid ActiveStor Ultra , remains a stalwart high-performance mixed workload solution for data analytics , complex modelling and simulation , molecular imaging techniques , and converged HPC / AI data use cases .
I focus on recruiting and onboarding new reseller , distributor , and alliance partners , as well as fortifying relationships with our existing partners .
Mike Sheppard , Director of Channels and Alliances at Panasas
How do you ensure channel partners flourish in a highly competitive market ?
The traditional high-performance market is growing rapidly due to emerging use cases involving Artificial Intelligence and Big Data analytics . The new solutions that we introduced to our portfolio this year enable our channel partners to appeal to a broader range of those high-performance workloads . The new ActiveStor Flash is an all-NVMe solution designed for AI / ML training , trading strategy back testing , and automation projects , while ActiveStor Ultra
What are the latest trends you see emerging across the channel ?
For many years , the focus has been on “ speeds and feeds .” Channel partners under pressure to make a sale will often put forward several “ flashy ” products , and this can result in solutions that only meet a portion of the customer ’ s needs . Now , we ’ re seeing a move toward selling more bespoke and turnkey solutions based on in-depth conversations with end users about their current and future requirements . This takes longer , but it leads to more beneficial results and long-lasting relationships .
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS 61