VMware's new channel chief on the five things at the forefront of partners' minds

Sandy Hogan talks to CRN about learning the ropes and what she has learned from partners so far

VMware's new global channel boss has outlined five themes she has taken from partner conversations as she settles into her role, she told CRN.

Sandy Hogan took up the role of SVP of worldwide and commercial sales in July this year, replacing Jenni Flinders who departed the virtualisation vendor in June. Hogan has previously held senior exec roles at Cisco and Rackspace before joining VMware.

Learning the ropes and engaging with partners virtually rather than face-to-face has given her more time to find out how she can develop those relationships further, she told CRN.

"My entire tenure has been during the pandemic and so I have been virtual this entire time," she said.

"One thing it has allowed me to do, in particular, is to spend a great deal of time with partners. I have literally been meeting with partners every day and getting perspective from different types of partners, not only the nature of the relationship today with VMware, but also just around where they are investing and where they see opportunities."

As a result of this extra time, Hogan has outlined five key themes based on what she found was top of partners' minds during these conversations. This feedback has made it "crystal clear" to her on how she can develop those relationships further, she said.

The first theme is on predictability and how VMware can better communicate its vision to partners so that they know where to invest, she explained. This was followed by profitability, protection through the engagement cycle, automation and "preparedness".

"When you think about the innovations that came out of VMworld, partners are just so hungry to have the enablement to make that knowledge transfer, invest in early proof of concepts, early trials, early ways, so that we are really preparing them not only for current skills, but future skills as well," she explained.

"[Those themes and conversations] have been a big part of my onboarding in the first 90 days."

VMware launched its Partner Connect programme in February, just months before Hogan joined the organisation. Over four thousand partners have joined VMware since the launch of the programme, she said.

Partners can pursue Master Services Competencies (MSC) in hybrid cloud, multi cloud, modern applications, networking and security and digital workspace, with over one thousand cloud verified partners achieving master services competencies, she added.

"I didn't realise just how big of a transformation that [programme change] was for VMware, but certainly appreciate it now," she stated.

"We've actually had really great momentum and I really think of Partner Connect as the foundational platform for our partner strategy, moving forward. I think that's an important element because that aspect really isn't going to change, it's going to evolve and continue to improve.

"The number of capable partners with MSCs…gives a perspective that not only are they engaging, but they're really investing in the key strategic areas for and with VMware."