My Chief Concern

Like my boss Michael Vizard, I'm taking a break from my regularly scheduled opining this week. Instead, I'm using this space to call your attention to a big project I coordinate: CRN's annual 50 Channel Chiefs ranking.

That's because, dear readers, I want to feature the vendor executives you believe are the biggest champions of solution providers and the channel business model at large.

HEATHER CLANCY Can be reached via e-mail at hclancy@cmp.com.

We regularly publish mini-profiles of various Channel Chiefs throughout the year. Moreover, our monthly spotlight on especially effective and channel-friendly vendor executives, as selected by the CRN Editorial Cabinet, is well-read and well-debated. (To read our latest edition of that feature, visit www.crn.com and do a search for Kevin Gilroy, who was the last person featured. You can also vote on the October slate at the same time.)

When it comes down to it, no one is better equipped to help shape our upcoming ranking than solution providers themselves. So, I'm asking you to put on your thinking caps--or simply go with your intuition--and send me your suggestions, along with your rationale.

I think you'll agree the executives on this list should head a program that embodies one or all of the following characteristics: public visibility for channel support, breadth of recruitment goals across the channel universe, attention from the company's senior executives, marketing programs that support the serious demand-generation activities of partners, realistic training and certification strategies, clear rules of engagement for sales teams--and the budget and resources to make it all happen.

By the way, I don't care how big the vendor is. Last year, one of our top picks was Mark Smith, vice president of worldwide sales at NetScreen. As you well know, since that time NetScreen has been acquired by Juniper Networks, at least in part because of its strong partner relationships. And Juniper itself is now on its way to becoming a powerhouse in the channel under its new channel leader, Tushar Kothari.

Our list publishes in March 2005 and will be featured at next year's XChange Solution Provider event. So, take a moment to make your suggestions. As with next week's elections, your vote counts more than ever.

Send your nomination ideas via e-mail to HEATHER CLANCY, Editor at CRN, at hclancy@cmp.com.