The Channel Zone Podcast

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards speaks with Nick Hamilton, Founder and Managing Director of Inconnection, one of the IT channel’s best-known events agencies. Nick shares his journey from PGA golf professional to building an events business trusted by many of the biggest names in the technology channel. The conversation explores how events have evolved from simple hospital...

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards is joined by Jonathan Keighley, Chief Revenue Officer at SaleCycle, for a sharp and honest conversation about what really changes when you move from senior sales leadership into the CRO role. Jonny explains why the CRO job is far bigger than just carrying a sales number. He talks about shifting from pipeline obsession to revenue obsession,...

In this episode of the Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards speaks with Tess Garner, Senior Director of Global Channel and Alliances Marketing at Tenable, about how cybersecurity marketing, partner engagement, and demand generation have fundamentally changed in the post-COVID world. Tess shares how Tenable, as an exposure management company, works through a global partner ecosystem of alliances, dis...

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, host Mark Edwards sits down with Steve Dawes, Chief Growth Officer at syclonX, for a conversation that spans nearly five decades of enterprise sales evolution. Steve shares insights from his early career at Mars, where discipline, structure, and relentless activity defined success—22 calls a day, strict processes, and constant accountability. From there...

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards sits down with Donna Joyce, Public Sector Account Director at Okta (specialising in Auth0), to explore a career shaped by an unexpected beginning: elite three-day eventing. Donna shares what it was really like working as a groom for an Olympic rider—6am starts, half a day off per week, and two years with no pay—and how that environment hard...

Mark Edwards speaks with Shannon Muller, a Cybersecurity Specialist at Microsoft, about her 20-year journey through the evolution of cyber — from early antivirus days to today’s AI-driven security landscape. Shannon explains why she approaches customers as an advisor first, how the role of security leadership has changed, and what she’s learning through her Master’s in Cyber Law as regulation and...

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards is joined by Marcus Davidson, Director of Field Enablement at Mimecast, for a wide-ranging conversation on what great enablement really looks like—today, and in any era. Marcus unpacks why he prefers the term “talent enablement” (toolset, skillset, mindset) and shares the core idea that selling is less about “selling” and more about helping...

Work From Home Is Killing Opportunity (Return to Customers) In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards is joined by Mark Sumner, CEO of Robertson Sumner and host of the Channel Chat podcast, to unpack how podcasting, community, and in-person relationships are shaping the UK channel. Mark shares the candid story behind Channel Chat — launched in 2019 as a business development tool, t...

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards is joined by Ed Renwick, Head of Strategic Service Provider Acquisition at Acronis—an experienced sales and partner leader whose career spans Oracle, Virgin Media, Exponential-e, and more. Mark and Ed reconnect (with a bit of humour to kick things off, including the origin story of Ed’s beard) before getting into what really matters: how pa...

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards is joined by Fiona McKenzie, CEO of digital marketing agency Revere (now part of MarketBridge), to unpack what “digital marketing” really means in the tech channel today—and why it’s become so complex. Fiona explains how messy the modern buyer journey has become: more channels, more content, bigger buying groups, and more cautious decision-...

In this episode of The Channel Zone, Mark Edwards is joined by Chris Neal of InfoScale.com, to explore how modern sales organisations actually learn, change, and improve. Drawing on a career spanning Novell, Symantec, Veritas, Blue Prism, Arctera, and now InfoScale.com, Chris shares practical, real-world insight into what effective enablement looks like today — and why traditional training models...

What makes someone walk away from a lifelong dream of becoming a barrister and instead build a standout career in tech sales? In this episode, Mark Edwards sits down with Alexandra Wilkinson, Sales Director for Microsoft. Alex shares how she went from a working-class, Northern, law graduate to leading major sales teams at Virgin Media, Vodafone, NTT and Microsoft – and why she believes her law deg...

In this episode, I’m joined by Simone Warren, Sales Director for Technology, Media & Telco at NCC Group, with a career spanning global names like Microsoft, BT, Siemens, Virgin Media, and Alibaba. Simone shares her journey from telesales to leading international sales teams, offering powerful lessons on: How clarity, research, and genuine customer focus remain timeless sales principles. The ev...

Performance, Points Boards & the Power of People — with Nick Martin In this episode of The Channel Zone, host Mark Edwards sits down with seasoned consultant Nick Martin to explore the evolution of sales, consulting, and collaboration in the tech world. From early career points boards to today’s AI-powered disruption, this candid conversation covers what’s changed, what’s stayed the same, and...

In this episode, Mark Edwards sits down with Roy Ferrari, SAP GTM Lead at HCLTech, for a wide-ranging conversation on what it takes to build a billion-pound partnership in the modern enterprise tech landscape. Roy shares insights from the recent SAP Sapphire event in Madrid, the importance of face-to-face interaction in today’s digital-first world, and HCLTech’s evolution from a systems integrator...

In this episode, I interview Mark Shephard, or Shep, EMEA Cloud Alliances Leader at Okta, to explore a remarkable journey from the armed forces to the forefront of cloud sales strategy. We unpack the power of extensibility in tech platforms, the strategic value of collaboration with AWS, and how lessons from sports and the military shape leadership in high-performance environments. Shep offers ins...

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, I’m joined by Al Stephens, founder of Darwin Technology Solutions, for a powerful conversation about shaking up the traditional IT procurement model. Al shares how Darwin is helping IT leaders cut through complexity, connect with the right vendors, and make smarter technology decisions—fast. We dive into what’s broken in the old buying process, why so m...

In this powerful and thought-provoking episode, we’re joined by Earl Talbot, a seasoned tech sales professional turned solopreneur, consultant, coach, and best-selling author. Earl shares his journey from the frontline of sales to building Creative Muscle Ltd, where he now helps individuals and teams unlock their true potential. Together, we dive deep into the human side of sales—the grit, the gri...

🎙️ In this episode, we’re joined by Harrison Kauffman – Account Director at boxxe and a rising star in the world of social selling. If you’ve spent any time on LinkedIn or TikTok, chances are you’ve seen one of Harrison’s energetic, insightful videos. A natural-born salesman with a passion for storytelling through social media and video, Harrison shares the journey that sparked his interest in con...

In this episode, I sit down with Dan Archer of Cactus to explore the evolving landscape of sales, marketing, and social selling—specifically within the agency ecosystem. We dive into the strategies that drive revenue growth, how agencies can leverage social platforms for sales success, and the intersection of marketing and business development in today’s competitive environment. Whether you're in...

In this episode, we sit down with Jon Kane, Senior Sales Director at Gigamon, a seasoned industry leader with an unmatched perspective on cybersecurity and the evolving threat landscape. A quick thinker with deep expertise, Jon’s insights into the current state of play are not to be missed. With 25 years in the cybersecurity world, Jon has also held key roles at RSA, VMware, Trend Micro, McAfee, F...

Having known one another for over a decade, Colin and Mark discuss how things differ between Japan and the UK tech marketplaces. 

The episode features an interview with Charlie Haynes , an Account Director at Veritas Technologies LLC . Charlie discusses his career journey, from transitioning from university into professional selling, to working at companies like Symantec and Veritas. He reflects on how the sales landscape has evolved, with changes in the buyer-seller knowledge dynamic and the rise of cloud service provider m...

In the latest episode kicking off season two of the podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Stuart Brinicombe, a seasoned veteran in the tech industry. With an impressive career spanning companies like Novell, PCT, and Oracle, Stuart shared his unique perspective on the evolving landscape of tech sales. We delved into the significant changes brought about by the global pandemic and lockdowns,...

Social Media? Social Selling? Are they the same? Does one contribute or conflict with the other? In this series finale we get to spend some time with Lena Weber-Reed, a social media strategist, and a firm believer in the potential for social media to help generate demand and leads in a B2B environment. Right now, social media and social selling are hot topics in the IT eco-system, with most end-to...