Channel Post speaks with the Regional Director MENA, Identity and Data Protection at Gemalto, Sebastien Pavie about challenges facing the IT channel and his responsibilities in driving the business.
What is your career history to date and key career achievements?
I began my career in IT security 17 years ago in Europe where I was based for almost a decade. During this time, I covered most of the European region. My role at the time required me to be involved in channel management and direct sales. After 10 years of working in Europe, I moved to Dubai to set up the SafeNet office for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. Following the opening of the Dubai office, I then opened offices in in Saudi Arabia and South Africa and grew the business organically across the MEA region.
When I moved to Dubai, the first action I took was to cancel the existing distribution agreements as they were not adding value. I then established a one-tier model working directly with resellers and systems integrators. Two and a half years later, I re-established a distribution layer by appointing several Value Added Distributors across MEA. I then assumed a Director role from 2011 and in 2015 I joined Gemalto further to its acquisition of SafeNet and took on the management of the resulting merged security Division of Gemalto then called “Identity & Data Protection” and now renamed ‘Enterprise & Cybersecurity’ for the region extending from Dubai to Turkey covering the META region with a team of 23 people.
What are your roles and responsibilities in the company as a channel influencer?
I have a strong influence in the channel strategy for the region given that the channel management team reporting to me, oversees the META channel business. Our channel business is standard for our industry and consists of distributors, system integrators, resellers and technology partners. My role is to ensure that all channel strategies are executed properly and customised for clients in the region. With full support from the marketing team I also have responsibility in defining marketing plans and initiatives in the region such as large-scale events like GITEX to showcase our products and services.
What is the biggest challenge facing the IT channel in the region?
As the channel community in the region grows and becomes more complex, and with vendors competing for channel support, there is an increased need to upskill talent to enable them to offer a higher level of support and service to end-users and customers.
Channel partners need to deliver proactive consultancy to their clients. This is not possible without proper education and training, as well as a deeper understanding of the new technologies becoming available. Channel partners also need to move away from the conventional demand-supply transactions and focus on understanding the end user’s business and helping them achieve their goals.
If you could improve one thing about the channel business what would it be?
The one thing I would improve about the channel business is training and education. At many companies, channel performance is essential for overall business success. It therefore makes sense to invest in stronger partner education programmes.
Today’s customers realise that the role of resellers is more than just supplying hardware and software. Resellers are required to offer customers with the full package – a distinct knowledge of all the software solutions available in the market, to effectively guide customers on the best solutions for their operations, as well as provide consultancy on systems integration. Resellers are required to deliver extensive experience and knowledge assisting their customers to reduce risk, enhance security and maintain and increase efficiency of IT systems. They also have to cope with the ever-present, ever-increasing range and sophistication of internal and external threats and provide the right advice.
Recognising this, we at Gemalto, through our Cipher programme, offer resellers a solid understanding of the overall security landscape – the latest trends, the most efficient ways to deploy our solutions and most importantly, how to do it all in a secure manner – this is key to resellers maintaining their relationships with end-customers and ultimately growing their IT sales. I would encourage more partners in the channel business to be involved in such programmes to upskill and educate themselves and offer more value-based knowledge to clients.
