Dive Brief:
- Network and cloud management platform provider EnGenius Technologies named Rachel Saunders, a 17-year telecom and channel veteran, to VP of sales for North America on Thursday. Saunders will focus on expanding the company’s distributor and partner relationships, developing new routes to market and increasing sales enablement for partners, according to the Thursday announcement.
- EnGenius works with distributors and resellers through its Elevate program and a “partner-first” channel model. The company deployed a lead generation platform to drive sales of a portfolio that includes Wi-Fi switching, security and AI-powered surveillance.
- “Partners have a lot of choices in today's market,” Saunders told Channel Dive. “Trust has to be earned. It's not just about having a lot of partners. It's about building relationships where our partners trust us enough to invest in growing their business with us. Because if we help our partners grow, we grow too, right?”
Dive Insight:
Saunders joined EnGenius in May, prior to the official announcement, after nearly 14 years at Grandstream Networks, an IP voice and video communications equipment manufacturer.
“While the role was mainly in unified communications, it pivoted into networking probably about seven years ago, and that's when I made the dive into the Wi-Fi networking ecosystem and marketplace,” she said. “That gave me a huge opportunity to learn about growing the channel, which has been really pivotal to my position here as VP of sales.”
As VP of sales, Saunders plans to strengthen and activate EnGenius’ distributor and partner relationships by boosting sales enablement such as competitive positioning, training and sales support.
EnGenius is also seeing growth opportunities in multi-dwelling units and hospitality, Saunders said. “A lot of those verticals are looking for opportunities to simplify their deployments, especially as so much changes rapidly with costs,” she said. “They're looking for alternatives that give them the same agility and flexibility in what they need and capabilities for their customers.”
Looking forward, Saunders wants to build a larger base of active, productive partners with stronger distribution engagement — and for EnGenius to be considered more consistently in opportunities where partners historically might have defaulted to another networking vendor.
“There's a broader opportunity because partners are evaluating their networking portfolios and looking for alternatives that give them strong technology, economics and a vendor that's going to invest in the relationship,” Saunders said. “We're seeing a lot of consolidation and even some competitors exiting the marketplace recently. That's a massive opportunity for us.”
