Which non-competitive business do you admire for its channel drive and strategy ?
Ortbals worked at Cisco 10 + years ago and he continues to admire their commitment to the channel and how everything they do is intertwined with how they engage and work with the partner ecosystem . Whether it is incentives , specialised service authorisations or Cisco ’ s overall GTM motion , Ortbals has always been impressed with how it is baked into the company .
to stay on top of everything available in the market . Partners can help provide them guidance and clarity around how to leverage the right tools and protect against the advancing threats .
How can a channel partner disrupt the regional market and gain a leading competitive position ?
Partners that have a strong integration lab , PoC environment that can bring together multiple vendors and recreate a customer ’ s environment and showcase to them how integrated solutions can solve the complex problems they face , will bring the most value to enterprises . This will instantly create a competitive advantage for them in any of their engagements .
There is no single solution or single vendor that can offer everything and that is where the partner ecosystem can bring the most value .
Which aspects of your job role do you find rewarding and which challenging ?
Ortbals most enjoys his time out in the field engaging with partners , across all levels of their organisations , as he has held just about every type of partner-related role from CAM to his current role as SVP of Global Partner Ecosystems at BeyondTrust .
Helping partner managers , and the partners as well , build new revenue streams is immensely rewarding for Ortbals . The most challenging part of his job is having those tough conversations when he and the partner are not aligned , and an engagement or partnership gets disrupted .
How do you best like to de-stress and re-charge off work ?
Watching his kids compete in any sporting event is Ortbals ’ favourite way to de-stress and relax after work . He loves watching them face and overcome challenges while being a great teammate at the same time . Aside from that , sitting at Kauffman Stadium and watching a Kansas City Royals baseball game is a great 3 hours of relaxation for Ortbals . •
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