The Channel Zone Podcast

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...

I first came across Neill Murphy on LinkedIn - where else you might ask... His LinkedIn posts just jumped off the page (sorry.... screen) and captured his knowledge and his enthusiasm for social selling. Neill has over a decade of experience working in the world of on-line marketing and demand generation, and in this conversation we get some insights into how social selling in general, and LinkedI...

Shortly after the announcement of Advania's acquisition of Servium, we were joined by Colin Brown (Board Member for Advania Group). In our conversation, Colin tells of the background to the deal itself, and paints a picture of the potential for for newly enlarged Advania UK company. Additionally, Colin gives some sage advice on people entering the IT eco-system as of 2024.

Dan O'Shaughnessy helps us to explore the ways in which partner relationships can be enhanced by using the right tools: specifically, Allbound's Partner Relationship platform. I originally came across Dan's profile on LinkedIn (as you do...) and I was struck by his candour around the mistakes he had made when developing a partner programme. Here is his post... "We made a mistake when we first star...

A terrific guest, Jay Janes explains his thoughts on the various approaches and tools that can help MSPs to grow their social presence on the likes of LinkedIn, X, Meta et al... If you are interested in developing your own social presence you will certainly glean some insight on your next steps by listening to this podcast episode. 

Jordan Travers, Managing Director of Prinato Distribution UK & I, opens up and gives us insight into the inner workings of an IT distributor. This is a terrific conversation that will serve the interests of those who would like to know how the various parts of the IT eco-system work for, and with one another.

Channel Management 'Legend' Mark Devonshire shines a light on the relationships between vendors, distis and channel partners. Mark has recently joined CrowdStrike as National Alliances Manager and has over twenty five years experience of partner management. A terrific guest for the show.

A terrific contribution to the podcast from Andrew Vize. Our 30 plus minute conversation touches on the advances in SD-WAN (and how our lives will be changed by it), the changes in world of work, and also how marketing has changed to meet the new buyer's journey in the 2020s.

A terrific contribution to the podcast from Bill Hopkinson. Our 30 plus minute conversation touches on the evolution of Intercity, MSPs, their role and responsibilities, marketing, data driven sales analysis, continuous improvement, AI and cyber security.

A terrific 'Enablement' subject special with industry legend Ruth Bowen. In 40 minutes, Ruth lays out the Why, What and How of enablement in the IT eco-system. An episode as valuable to Vendors as it is to Distributors and Channel Partners alike. 

A conversation between Mark Edwards and Glenn Graham about the changing world of sales and the evolving roles, objectives activities of vendors, distributors and channel partners.

A conversation between Mark Edwards and Ed Kenny about the changing world of sales and sales leadership in the IT channel.