Zooming In  

Zoom Video Communications’ new channel chief, Todd Surdey, who has been at the helm since July, is excited to be here. In fact, Surdey “targeted” Zoom as the next company he wanted to work for, he said.

As hybrid work has changed the collaboration game, it’s now more important than ever for businesses to have the right tools in place for their employees to work together from anywhere since the trend isn’t going away. That means new offerings that go above and beyond simply videoconferencing. It’s an exciting, fluid and fast-moving space, and Surdey believes that Zoom will only win with the help of channel partners.

Zoom is still relatively new to the channel, having launched its program about four years ago and announcing a revamped channel program—Zoom Up—in May. The company just two years ago was doing about 10 percent of its business through the channel, which climbed to 30 percent in about a 12-month period. But Surdey has even loftier goals for Zoom’s channel: He wants to get partners to contribute to more than 50 percent of the videoconferencing giant’s revenue.

It won’t come without some changes, but the longtime sales executive is confident in his plan that lays out how Zoom and its internal teams will enable partners with new access to resources and collaborate with them to invest in the solutions they are bundling today for their customers.

His message to the channel? There’s a great opportunity for both sides to capitalize on what Zoom offers and what the company and partners can offer together.

Surdey sat down with CRN ahead of Zoomtopia 2022 this week to talk about how the channel is already contributing to the company’s impressive growth and his plans for future success.

Here are excerpts from the conversation.