TBI celebrates notable industry leaders and professionals making an impact in telecom. Learn more about Woman of the Channel, Christine Rawlinson, from Interxion: A Digital Realty Company.

With over 20 years experience in Channel, working with well-known technology brands, Christine Rawlinson is now the Director of Partner & Alliances for EMEA North at Interxion, A Digital Realty company. Her expertise in building out successful Channel businesses brings her to her current role.

As one of the founders of the Global Channel Program for Equinix and having spent 10 years in a B2B Channel agency working with clients such as Microsoft and Symantec to drive millions of dollars of incremental business through a broad range of Channel initiatives, Rawlinson is a strong Channel player and an asset to a company that is in the early stages of its Channel journey.

AI in the collaborative space is not a new concept but its role and demand in the midst of a global pandemic have never been more relevant than today. However, having AI and having a strategy for how to use it and drive value, internally and externally, are two separate things. The term “garbage in garbage out” has never become more of an apt phrase than in relation to what data is driving this automated intelligence. Companies must adapt quickly to change, more so today than ever. Rigorously creating an answer and response database from scratch, or using a knowledge base that is not properly vetted, are what most companies are forced to choose from. The key is to understand that going from little or no automation to a full automation agent-less customer experience overnight is not the answer. Below are examples of core concepts for a successful AI journey.

The redesigned portal brings added selling resources to TBI partners for better customer engagement and an improves sales process.

OCTOBER 8, 2020 – CHICAGO, IL – TBI, the nation’s leading technology brokerage firm, announces the update and redesign of partner portal, OnDemand. The new portal offers a single dashboard for partners to manage their business with added tools and improved capabilities, including automated quoting and serviceability locator.

Security operations center as a service (SOCaaS) and managed detection and response (MDR) are managed cybersecurity services that provide intrusion detection of ransomware/malware and malicious activity in the network and assist in rapid incident response to eliminate those threats with concise remediation actions. Typically, SOCaaS and MDR combine with technology solutions that have outsourced security analysts to extend security technologies and team.

Cloud-first readiness meant business as usual when 90% of employees switched to remote working.

The distributed workforce is here.

Remote work has arrived. Even before COVID-19, researchers were predicting that by 2025, 70% of the workforce would work remotely for at least five days each month.1 Today, of course, many businesses have gone 100% remote, 100% of the time, albeit by necessity. And employees, by all reports, love it. A full 86% of the time, employees who have been given the option of working from anywhere will seize the opportunity.2

We hear it all the time – it’s not if a business will fall victim to a cyber attack but when. As the working world has moved from the controlled office environment to remote models, security is a major IT topic, bringing major opportunity for partners. Customers are looking for effective cybersecurity that they can quickly and easily deploy while still providing air-tight protection. A recent study found that 7 in 10 organizations are looking to increase their investments in security technologies.

To meet growing business needs and demand, providers continue to develop more desirable security solutions, offering cloud-based services and utilizing advanced technologies, incorporating AI and zero trust capabilities. Keeping up with all that is happening in cybersecurity can be daunting and in some cases, nearly impossible.

Download TBI’s security eBook to get everything you need to know now about what is happening now and how to thrive in the new world of cybersecurity. The eBook includes -

• 2020 Forecasting
• Top Data Breaches
• Impact of COVID-19
• Remote Work Risk Factors & Recommendations
• Trending Solutions & Spending
• Security Must-Haves
• Industry Targets
• Discovery Questions
• Recommended Providers
• Security Resources Cheat Sheet

TBI celebrates notable industry leaders and professionals making an impact in telecom. Learn more about Woman of the Channel, Amy Brown, from Viasat.

Amy started her career at a boutique advertising and branding agency, where she worked with Fortune 500 companies in packaged goods, spirits, fashion, and consumer electronics. During her time at the agency, she discovered her passion for the technology industry, which lead her to her current marketing role at Viasat.

Over the past 15 years, Amy has led multi-million-dollar marketing campaigns to reach consumers, businesses, and governments. She is passionate about doing what’s right for the customer and driving alignment across teams throughout the entire customer journey.

She is currently responsible for Viasat’s B2B connectivity marketing strategy which includes research to inform market entry and product development, go-to-market, channel marketing, customer communications and retention, and everything in between.

More providers were added this month to the master agent’s impressive portfolio of established and emerging technology vendors.

CHICAGO, IL – October 7, 2020 - TBI, the nation’s leading technology brokerage firm, added more top tier providers to their portfolio this month. Committed to building strategic partnerships to serve their partner community, TBI has significantly expanded their portfolio this year, including the addition of several new emerging cloud providers.

TBI's Emily Ball and Bryan Reynolds deliver October Channel News.

The partnership brings Internet of Things solutions to TBI’s partner community.

CHICAGO, IL – October 7, 2020 - TBI, the nation’s leading technology brokerage firm, announces the addition of LinkAmerica, an IT services and telecommunications company with over 25 years of experience, to their provider portfolio. Headquartered in Dallas, TX LinkAmerica holds a strong international footprint; the partnership enables TBI MSPs and partners to offer a robust suite of Internet of Things (IoT) products and services throughout the Americas. IoT is a technology of connected intelligent sensors that provide real-time feedback that helps businesses with visibility into all aspects of their physical operations. Typical use cases have shown dramatic improvements to asset tracking, preventative maintenance, quality control assurance, and instant status on product movement through a supply chain.

CHICAGO, IL – October 7, 2020 -TBI, the nation’s leading technology brokerage firm, announces the addition of Armor® to its provider portfolio. Armor is a leading global cybersecurity software company. Its flagship product, Armor Anywhere, is used by over 1,000 organizations in 40 countries, providing them with threat detection and response and helping them meet their compliance requirements. Armor Anywhere secures workloads no matter where they reside, on premises or in public, hybrid, private or multi-cloud environments.

The partnership brings 24/7/365 continuous network, cloud and endpoint cybersecurity monitoring provided by Cybersafe to TBI’s partner community.

CHICAGO, IL – October 7, 2020 -TBI, the nation’s leading technology brokerage firm, announces the addition of Cybersafe to their provider portfolio. A global Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) with a US-based 24/7/365 Security Operations Center (SOC), Cybersafe delivers advanced cybersecurity solutions utilizing best of breed technology.

The partnership brings SIP Trunking, Faxing and Messaging to TBI’s partner community.

CHICAGO, IL – October 7, 2020 -TBI, the nation’s leading technology brokerage firm, announces the addition of Inteliquent to their provider portfolio. Inteliquent is a leading provider of voice, messaging, faxing and emergency services in the United States. The addition brings the unique opportunity for TBI partners to offer communications solutions over Inteliquent’s extensive, owned and operated tier 1 nationwide network.

TBI partners can now provide businesses with CommandLink’s cloud communications, SD-WAN, security, network services, and proprietary IT service management platform.

CHICAGO, IL – October 7, 2020 - TBI, the nation’s leading technology brokerage firm, announces the addition of CommandLink to their provider portfolio. CommandLink is a Channel-focused cloud communications and network service provider committed to helping selling agents bring exceptional customer experience and support to businesses nationwide.

HughesNet brings satellite internet services to connect rural and remote businesses, especially where fiber and cable internet are not available.

CHICAGO, IL – October 7, 2020 - TBI, the nation’s leading technology brokerage firm, announces the addition of HughesNet® for Business to their provider portfolio. HughesNet for Business provides cost-effective, high-speed, satellite internet to small offices and home offices (SOHOs) as a primary or back-up service. In use across thousands of small- to medium-sized businesses across the country, including restaurants, retailers, professional firms, farms, and medical offices, HughesNet brings connectivity, at broadband speeds of 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up, to places unserved or underserved by land-line internet providers.

TBI celebrates notable industry leaders and professionals making an impact in telecom. Learn more about Woman of the Channel, Marcela Gonzalez Cagle, from Vonage.

Marcela Gonzalez Cagle joined Vonage in 2016 and has been successfully helping shape the channel marketing strategy, to drive regional expansion, execution and enablement for the Vonage partner community. With more than 10 years of experience in branding, events and partner marketing, Gonzalez Cagle has played a key role in the launch of the Vonage Partner Network, including the Program's expansion into the UK, and the Company's overall channel sales strategy.

Prior to joining Vonage, Gonzalez Cagle worked at Next Marketing managing the alliance partnership in Latin America with HP, Microsoft and Intel. She also helped develop the channel marketing program, MDF program and partner portal for Clear Wireless Internet following its launch in 2010. Gonzalez Cagle is originally from Colombia, raised in Atlanta and now lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn. She is fluent in Spanish and loves to travel.

CHICAGO, IL & SAN FRANCISCO, CA – SEPTEMBER 30, 2020 - Dialpad, the only cloud-native business communications platform powered by Voice Intelligence (Vi^TM), today announced a new Master Agent partnership with TBI for reseller services to global markets. The partnership will bring Dialpad’s full suite of cloud-native communications services to TBI’s international portfolio of trusted providers.

Chicago, IL, September 24, 2020 – TBI, the nation’s leading technology brokerage firm, is recognized today as a top cable performer for 2019. TBI is recognized as a top partner who continually demonstrates exemplary leadership, influence and innovation in promoting Cable in the channel. Craig Schlagbaum, Comcast Business SVP & Channel Chief says, "Our success is largely attributed to our partners who are leaders in the field. As we embark on a new decade in the channel, our partners will set the strategy for success.”

Cloud Infrastructure Architect and TBI Tech Guru, Jim Demetrius, shares his insight on how to successfully move customers to the cloud – the conversations that need to be had and considerations that need to be made.