Here on EDGE360, we often look at the dynamics of the channel and the channel ecosystem and highlight the people and best practices that make it successful. There is no doubt that women play a significant role in the IT channel, and each year the number of women in leadership roles increases. CRN recently highlighted the accomplishments of women in the channel in their fifth Top 100 list.
Among these accomplished women, we are excited to see our own EDGE360 contributors and SYNNEX team members including Siobhan Byron, Heather Allen, Molly Sherwood, and Sharon March. We wanted to take a moment to highlight each one of these women:
Siobhan Byron, Vice President and General Manager, Canada, Westcon-Comstor Americas
Siobhan Byron is an expert in designing and launching strategies and frameworks to capture new revenue opportunities, expand into new channels, and catapult sales performance in the Canadian market. Most recently, she has worked to expand SYNNEX channel business through strategic cross-sell initiatives. She has also added key security, unified communications, and collaboration offerings, as well as solutions complete with training and enablement sessions to support channel partners in developing their businesses.
When asked what skill she wished she had in her job, Byron said speed reading. “Technology changes at such speed these days that it’s one of the most exciting aspects of this job and industry, however, it does pose a challenge in terms of keeping current especially with all the content out there. The ability to speed read would be extremely useful.”
Click here to read Siobhan’s full CRN profile.
Heather Allen, Senior Director, Security Product Sales and Marketing, Westcon-Comstor
Heather Allen helps drive channel growth for leading security and unified communications partners. Last year, Allen was promoted, taking on marketing responsibilities in both the United States and Canada. She has helped partners achieve financial revenue targets; developed and executed programs to drive new business; recruited and onboarded new partners through sales and technical enablement programs; and built channel testimonials for increased brand recognition for partners.
When asked about the advice she would give to younger women, Allen said, “My advice to young women would be to focus, focus, and focus. Work hard and help motivate others. It is important to strive for success not only within your own organization, but also across multiple organizations, including your business partners and customers, in order to network and build strong relationships. Also, know that no one is entitled to achievement or success. Respect is earned and not given. Those were instilled in me early on, and I think provide a strong foundation for success.”
Click here to read Heather’s full CRN profile.
Molly Sherwood, Director, Product Marketing, Westcon-Comstor
Molly Sherwood is a regular contributor to EDGE360, where she shares her passion for driving diversity within the workplace. She is responsible for leading marketing and business development teams to help customers grow their businesses. Over the past year, she led a marketing team to integrate a new automated CRM system to enable pipeline management. Sherwood also launched a new customer preference center and helped develop the Comstor EDGE strategy with architecture-specific programs that enable partners to grow their business practice areas of security, networking, collaboration, data center, software, and annuities.
When asked what her goals are for the future, Sherwood said, “Growth! With the recent acquisition of Westcon-Comstor by SYNNEX Corporation, I am focused on aligning the teams to effectively integrate into the SYNNEX community and grow the business by leveraging all of the resources SYNNEX has to offer. There is also a big focus on helping partners grow a percentage of their businesses from reoccurring revenue streams, so we expect to see more enablement strategies in the areas of software and annuities.”
Click here to read Molly’s full CRN Profile.
Sharon March, Senior Manager, Technical Operations
Sharon March plays a key role in understanding certifications and specializations to help partners choose the right path for their businesses. Through her dedication to SYNNEX and the channel, March helps partners improve their status with key vendors, become eligible for rebates and programs, and grow their overall business. With her team, she also helps deliver vendor-specific training offerings to partners and is on track to support more than 50 resellers in this capacity.
When asked about a woman that she admired, March pointed to Sandy Lerner, the founder of Cisco. March said that she admired Lerner for her ability to reinvent herself. “She has three major reboots, all completely different. From founder of Cisco, to founder of Urban Decay, to farmer, to author. It’s pretty impressive to reinvent yourself once, let alone three or more times.”
Click here to read Sharon’s full CRN profile.
For a full list of SYNNEX team members recognized, click here.
