Viavi’s Sergio Bea Recognized as 2017 CRN® Channel Chief
We are proud to announce that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Sergio Bea, Viavi’s Vice President Global Channels and Enterprise, to its prestigious list of 2017 Channel Chiefs. The executives on this annual list represent top leaders in the IT channel who excel at driving growth and revenue in their organizations through channel partners.
Channel Chief honorees are selected by CRN’s editorial staff on the basis of their professional achievements, standing in the industry, dedication to the channel partner community and strategies for driving future growth and innovation. Each of the 2017 Channel Chiefs has demonstrated loyalty and ongoing support for the IT channel by consistently promoting, defending and executing outstanding channel partner programs.
Sergio was chosen as a 2017 Channel Chief because of his 20+ years of experience in the telecommunications industry across various disciplines, including sales, strategy and services. Sergio joined Viavi Solutions in March 2015 and is leading the implementation of a revived channel-partner strategy that enables Viavi and our partners to more effectively deliver Viavi’s unique solution set to service providers, network equipment manufacturers and enterprises of all types.
Also factoring into the decision to honor Sergio as a 2017 Channel Chief were the significant accomplishments he led the Viavi Channel Team in implementing over the past year. Most notably, are:
- The onboarding of 54 Enterprise companies as new Velocity Partners in 4 months to address the scaling of Viavi’s Enterprise portfolio into the market.
- The launch of a 2-tier distribution model in North America.
- The overhaul of Viavi’s services strategy for partners with planned managed services launch with key strategic partners.
We asked Sergio to tell us some of the innovative ideas he’s implementing to help Viavi’s partners succeed. Here’s what he said: “My favorite innovations we’ve implemented is for our partners as part of Viavi’s Velocity Partner Program are the ‘Acceleration Fund’ and ‘Velocity Marketing Express’:
- The Acceleration Fund is designed for all partner tiers and allows any partners to come forward with a growth idea and plan. If the idea is aligned to our joint strategy, Viavi will approve and fund it through a discretionary marketing budget. This provides flexibility and allows our partners to think big and hunt for new business. We think of it almost like venture capital.
- Velocity Marketing Express is a self-service marketing automation tool launched to help boost marketing reach, especially for smaller Solutions Provider partners with limited marketing capabilities. Viavi made 3 complete campaign packages available in multiple languages within the first 3 months of the tool going live.”
Here’s what Bob Faletra, CEO, The Channel Company has to say about this year’s Channel Chiefs: “The executives on our 2017 Channel Chiefs list have distinguished themselves by building strong partner programs, developing and executing effective business strategy and helping to advance the channel as a whole. They represent an extraordinary group of individuals who lead by example and serve as both invaluable advocates and innovators of the IT channel. We applaud their achievements and look forward to their successes in the coming year.”
The 2017 CRN Channel Chiefs list is featured in the February 2017 issue of CRN and online at www.crn.com/channelchiefs.
Please join us in congratulating Sergio on this industry recognition!