WWT CEO on ‘supercharging’ Cisco, VMware and Microsoft relationships, hiring spree and booming Softchoice sales

“If I netted it out this year on the Softchoice side, I am betting we will see 50 percent [revenue] growth. And we’re just scratching the surface,” Jim Kavanaugh tells CRN

World Wide Technology (WWT) is firing on all cylinders this year as it drives its enterprise portfolio into the SMB and mid-sized markets, following its $1.3bn (£985.8m) acquisition of Softchoice.

Just over a year on from the close of the deal, WWT co-founder and CEO Jim Kavanaugh is on a hiring spree to keep pace with strong customer demand, as the company expands across Softchoice’s base of more than 5,000 customers and deepens partnerships with Cisco and Microsoft.

“If I netted it out this year on the Softchoice side, I am betting we will see 50 per cent [revenue] growth. And we’re just scratching the surface,” said Kavanaugh in an interview with CRN.

Despite having more than 14,000 employees globally, the $20bn-plus, US-based channel heavyweight is ramping up hiring as SMB and mid-market customers increasingly seek out WWT’s services and solutions.

“Our headcount will be significantly larger in 2026 - by far. We’re absolutely hiring hundreds more people,” says Kavanaugh.

“We’re being thoughtful, methodical and very aggressive in the investment we’re making into Softchoice’s account representatives and the engineers who support them, so we can sell the full World Wide portfolio into Softchoice accounts.”

WWT’s new Microsoft push

The WWT-Softchoice merger is not a one-way street.

Softchoice is bringing WWT into new accounts in Canada, while also helping to scale its Microsoft business.

Softchoice is an award-winning Microsoft partner with more than 30 years’ experience.

“With all that World Wide and Softchoice are doing in leaning into AI and driving AI use cases and implementations - and Copilot and other opportunities, including what could be Agent 365 - there’s a lot that we’re looking at,” explains Kavanaugh.

Nina Harding, Microsoft’s corporate VP for Americas Global Partner Solutions, explains that Microsoft is doubling down on WWT around co-sell execution and in priority areas such as AI.

“The responsibility that large enterprises have entrusted to WWT for their digital transformation is perfectly matched to Microsoft’s frontier platforms.

“Softchoice’s strong presence in the SMB and mid-market is now benefiting from WWT’s global scale and engineering depth to create a true end-to-end model for customer transformation.”

Kavanaugh spoke in depth with CRN about WWT’s strategy with Softchoice, its hiring plans, evolving vendor relationships, sales growth and more.

Talk about WWT’s hiring strategy in 2026. Are you growing Softchoice’s headcount?

“Yes, our headcount will be significantly larger in 2026. We’re absolutely hiring hundreds more people.

“We’re expanding the number of Softchoice representatives. We’re also adding engineers and other resources that complement the capabilities they already have.

“We’re being very aggressive in hiring across sales and business development, as well as consulting and software development.

“That is closely aligned with what we’re doing with Softchoice - bringing in different types of engineers, particularly higher-end compute specialists, network engineers and cybersecurity engineers, to complement what Softchoice is already doing.

“We’re being very thoughtful and methodical, but also highly aggressive, in the investments we’re making into Softchoice - into their account representatives and the engineers who support them.

“These are people we need to bring on board to sell the full World Wide portfolio into Softchoice accounts.

“We’re seeing meaningful, material growth already, but I still believe we’re only scratching the surface in terms of building momentum and really getting that flywheel going.”

WWT is known for organic growth, not acquisitions. Why did you buy Softchoice, and how much sales growth do you expect from it in 2026?

“The rationale behind Softchoice was that we didn’t really have much of a presence in the SMB space or the lower end of the commercial market.

“That is now playing out even better than we expected. We also didn’t have a significant presence in Canada.

“When we looked at potential targets, one of the key criteria was finding a business that was complementary and synergistic - not overlapping or directly competitive, where integration becomes difficult because of duplication.

“As a result, there’s very little overlap or conflict across sales teams and go-to-market approaches.

“You never quite know how acquisitions will play out, but I was very confident in the strategic rationale behind acquiring Softchoice.

“I’ve also been very pleased with the people and the culture - smart, ambitious and hard-working. They align closely with World Wide’s core values, which is critical from an integration standpoint, and we feel we’ve brought those together well.

“If I net it out this year on the Softchoice side, I’m expecting around 50 per cent [revenue] growth. And we’re just scratching the surface.”

Being one of Cisco’s and other vendors’ top global partners, what is WWT doing to drive new growth for Softchoice’s SMB and mid-market customers?

“If you take Cisco as an example, Softchoice was a good Cisco partner, but relatively speaking, it didn’t do a huge amount of Cisco business, so there’s a significant opportunity to supercharge that.

“The same applies when you look at Dell. And when it comes to VMware, Softchoice was already a partner - but we’re enhancing that by bringing in greater value and additional capabilities.

“Softchoice had a solid relationship with VMware. With Broadcom’s acquisition and its move to streamline the partner base, it is now investing more heavily in a smaller number of partners.

“With Softchoice and WWT together, we’ve built a very complementary, value-driven, and truly bidirectional partnership with VMware. That is growing.

“Our services business in that area is growing substantially, and our resale business - in markets where VMware allows resale - is also expanding.

“More broadly, when you look at some of the tier-one OEMs that are key partners for World Wide, we are bringing all of that expertise into Softchoice’s existing customer base, while also adding additional representatives to target new accounts.”

Softchoice is a major Microsoft partner in the SMB and mid-market space. What is WWT’s future with Microsoft now?

“Microsoft is a really significant addition that Softchoice has brought to WWT.

“When you look at Microsoft, it’s everywhere - it’s ubiquitous.

“The depth of the relationship that Andrew Caprara and his executive team built, along with their expertise around Microsoft, is something we didn’t feel we could realistically develop ourselves, particularly when it comes to achieving those certifications.

“Now, I believe we have a much stronger value proposition to bring to Microsoft, especially as the competitive landscape has shifted compared with two or three years ago.

“There is far more ‘co-opetition’ now around AI large language models, whether that’s Google or Anthropic.

“As the AI landscape evolves, the value that World Wide brings to Microsoft is likely more meaningful today than it would have been a few years ago.

“With everything that World Wide and Softchoice are doing around AI - driving use cases, implementations, Copilot and other opportunities, including what could become Agent 365 - there’s a lot we’re exploring.

“I was at Microsoft’s CEO Summit last week and spent a couple of excellent days there, led by Satya Nadella and his executive team. We’re very excited about the partnership with Microsoft.

“We’re only scratching the surface of the opportunities we have to work with Microsoft in a much more strategic and meaningful way. That hasn’t traditionally been a core focus for World Wide.”

How can WWT provide a portfolio that can scale from Fortune 100 clients down to SMBs? Is there demand for that?

“World Wide’s total addressable market is enormous - across the US, North America and globally. Whether it’s IT infrastructure modernisation, AI, cybersecurity, software development or digital transformation, the opportunity is vast.

“The TAM itself is not the challenge. The demand is there.

“The question is: how do we deliver the right value proposition for the SMB segment without it becoming too costly? We can’t simply replicate the same go-to-market strategy we use for large enterprises, because the economics are different.

“You can’t have the same level of resource intensity around an SMB account as you would with a large enterprise, where you may need that scale of support across a broad set of requirements.

“We have to carefully tailor our go-to-market approach across SMB, commercial, upper mid-market and enterprise segments. That’s something we’re actively working on and continuing to refine.

“Part of that is automating and operationalising our back-end capabilities through software and AI.

“At the same time, the vendor landscape is evolving rapidly and has become much more complex. There’s a lot of co-opetition, and that creates real challenges for customers.

“Customers are dealing with that complexity and are looking for a partner who can help them navigate it and make informed decisions as technologies continue to evolve. That’s where we see a strong opportunity.”

Talk about WWT’s growth and your outlook for the future.

“Over the past two years, our net income has grown by well over 30 per cent. That trajectory is continuing this year - and then some.

“But we don’t take anything for granted. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results.

“The moment you take your eye off the ball and think you’ve got it all figured out is when you run into trouble.

“We operate with a healthy level of paranoia every day. We’re working hard, but we’re also very encouraged by the momentum we’re seeing.

“I feel very fortunate about the quality of people we’ve brought in through Softchoice. Andrew has done a great job of keeping that leadership team intact and fully integrated into our broader organisation.

“That’s been particularly important, because not all acquisitions deliver that kind of outcome.”

This article originally appeared on CRN UK sister website CRN.