CRN Exclusive: Flexential Appoints Melissa McCoy As New Channel Chief
Cloud service provider Flexential has a new channel leader in industry veteran Melissa McCoy.
McCoy, Flexential's new vice president of channel sales, is no stranger to the channel. Having spent the past two decades building and managing channel programs, McCoy is ready to define Flexential's partner strategy.
Flexential, formerly Peak 10 + ViaWest, has been hard at work for the past year integrating the separate Peak 10 and ViaWest channel programs. The new program today includes "the best elements" of both programs, McCoy said.
For her part, McCoy wants to expand the company's channel efforts, while helping partners win more business.
"There's been great momentum that's already started," she said. "I want to help make Flexential the service provider of choice, and really highlight our co-location, connectivity and cloud service portfolio."
[Related: New Flexential CEO Chris Downie: 'We Are A Leader In The Tier 2 Cloud Market' ]
Today, the Infrastructure-as-a-Service provider does about 40 percent of its business through the channel.
"Partners are already seeing the benefits under the new Flexential channel program, with new, flexible contract options, increased investment in channel resources, and the integration with the direct sales team to really create a compensation-neutral model," McCoy said. "The good news is partners are really core to Flexential's strategy and we see it as a big growth opportunity."
Partners can expect further integration of legacy Peak 10 and ViaWest systems during the second half of 2018 as the company strives to make it easier for partners to do business with Flexential, McCoy said. This will include improving automation around lead registration, opportunity tracking and commissions, she said.
McCoy will also be heads-down focused on partner enablement -- that is, the tools and resources partners need to better identify and close more cloud-related revenue opportunities.
"You'll see us updating partner play books and additional trainings that can help position Flexential's broad service portfolio with [partners’] end customers," she said.
McCoy most recently served as vice president of channel strategy and programs for Sungard Availability Services, were she worked on channel development for the past 10 years. Prior to that, she served as a channel manager for Alcatel-Lucent and Lucent Technologies.
Flexential's former channel chief, Dave Sroka, is now serving as the company's vice president of its national Carrier Partner Program.
Charlotte, N.C.-based cloud service provider Peak 10 closed its $1.67 billion acquisition of West Coast-based cloud provider ViaWest last August. The combined company, Peak 10 + ViaWest, rebranded in January to Flexential.