What does it take to succeed in today’s channel sales landscape?

Mark Conley, Vice President, Americas Channel Sales at Cohesity, joins Harry Kendlbacher to unpack the evolution of channel partnerships — and what it means to lead in an environment where influence, trust, and collaboration matter more than ever.

They talk about:

- How to build partner trust without controlling the outcome
- The unique challenges of managing distributed teams
- What sales leadership looks like in a fast-changing partner ecosystem
- And why clarity, consistency, and culture are critical to driving results

This one’s for anyone thinking about the future of sales leadership in a partner-first world.

58. Winning Through Partnerships: The Future of Channel Sales & Sales Leadership

What really goes into the biggest partner program evolution Cisco has launched in 20 years? In this episode of Shift Happens, host Jeff Edwards is joined by two powerhouse leaders — Elisabeth De Dobbeleer, SVP of the Cisco Partner Program, and Rhonda Henley, VP of Americas Partner Sales — to unpack what’s new, what’s working, and what’s still in motion with the Cisco 360 Partner Program.
They tackle:
• The mindset shift partners are making
• The biggest wins 
• What teams and partners can do today to set up for success
Insightful. Actionable. Real talk.
Grab your coffee or hit play on your commute — let’s make shift happen.

Shift Happens Episode 1: Unpacking the Cisco 360 Partner Program

Jason Gallo, Global VP of Partner GTM at Cisco, joins Jeff Edwards to unpack the latest evolution of the Cisco 360 Partner Program. From key truths about the new estimator tool to aligning partner investments with what’s next — this episode delivers the insights you need to lead with clarity and confidence.
Tune in and get ahead of the shift.

Shift Happens - Episode 2: A 360 degree shift

In this episode of Shift Happens, Jeff Edwards welcomes Sharon Price, Director of Strategy & Planning for Cisco’s Global Partner Organization, to unpack the new Cisco Partner Incentive (CPI) Estimator. Sharon shares how the tool helps partners model profitability, plan for growth, and align with the Cisco 360 Partner Program. Whether you're a partner or field team member, this episode gives you the insights—and the action steps—you need to start planning today. Because clarity isn’t the end goal. It’s the beginning.

Shift Happens - Episode 3: Ready, Set, Grow Unlocking Cisco's New Partner Incentive Estimator

What does it take to build durable growth in a $5.4 trillion tech market? 💡
In this episode, Jeff Edwards sits down with Gwendolyn Brantley, Cisco’s Director of Software & Service Sales for the Americas Partner Organization, to explore how AI, ecosystem partnerships, and premium services are reshaping the way customers buy, consume, and renew technology.

🎙️ Key takeaways:
• How AI and complexity are redefining customer expectations
• Why “meeting customers where they are” demands an ecosystem mindset
• The role of the Cisco 360 Partner Program in driving durable, recurring growth
• Why adoption accountability and premium services create happier customers
• Gwendolyn’s leadership superpower: The Connector 🕸️
If you lead teams, work with partners, or thrive on turning market shifts into opportunity—this one’s for you.

👉 Listen now and make shift happen.


Shift Happens- Episode 18: AI, Ecosystems, and the Future of Partner Success

Fresh out of the studio, Ralph Haupter, President & CRO, Small Medium Enterprises and Channels at Microsoft, joins us to explore how Microsoft is empowering 400 million small and medium businesses globally across 56 counties through a partner-first strategy that combines platform standardization with deep specialization. He shares his career journey spanning over 20 years at Microsoft, from running Europe to leading Greater China, building Asia's geographical operations in Singapore, and eventually taking on global SME strategy. Ralph explains that Microsoft's unique advantage lies in being a platform company at its finest, offering a complete technology stack from productivity to infrastructure, security, and applications—all with core AI integration—while relying on a specialized partner ecosystem to deliver local expertise and support. He highlights how partners are creating entirely new business models on agentic AI while emphasizing the four critical partnership moments from transaction to ongoing support that most companies neglect. Closing the conversation, Ralph shares what great looks like for Microsoft. 

“The partner program for us is a place where we want to have expertise for our customers. The only way to make that happen is to standardize on portfolio and standardize on offering.If you don’t provide standardized offers — if the experience in Word, for example, is different in one country than in another — you can’t build an ecosystem that helps partners scale with expertise. I call that a platform company at its finest.We have the full assortment — from the productivity world to infrastructure, security, and applications. And if you’re a small or medium enterprise, the last thing you want is to have four meetings with four people, serving four different types of coffee to four different vendors, just to get a full-stack solution for your business.” - Ralph Haupter

Episode Highlights: 
[00:00] Quote of the Day by Ralph Haupter
[00:54] Ralph's 20+ year Microsoft career journey from Europe to China to Global
[02:19] Ralph's Experience in Microsoft Greater China
[04:24] Giving space to local country leaders
[06:16] Career advice: Get out of comfort zone
[08:02] Microsoft's 400 million SME customer opportunity
[11:00] AI accessibility for small business competitiveness
[13:09] Satya's vision: Empower every organization globally
[15:00] Microsoft as AI platform company strategy
[17:24] Standardization enables partner ecosystem at scale
[21:22] Security partners drive consultative innovation
[25:15] Full stack portfolio simplifies SME technology
[28:00] Training investment for partners and customers
[32:00] Four critical partnership moments: Sales to support
[35:00] Local partner presence matters by geography
[40:36] Scale requires clarity, simplicity, and standards
[42:36] Global Leadership Lessons: Learning from positive performance signal deviations
[45:22] Customers should ask partners for expertise
[47:34] What does Great Look Like for Microsoft SME & Channel Globally
[48:00] Closing

Profile: Ralph Haupter, President and CRO, Small Medium Enterprises and Channel (SME&C), Microsoft 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralphhaupter/

Podcast Information: Bernard Leong hosts and produces the show. The proper credits for the intro and end music are "Energetic Sports Drive." G. Thomas Craig mixed and edited the episode in both video and audio format. 

Microsoft's Global Partner Strategy_ 400M Businesses & 1 Platform with Ralph Haupter

The Analyse Podcast, formerly Analyse Asia, is a weekly show that dissects the pulse of business, technology, and media across the world. Hosted by Bernard Leong, it features in-depth conversations with leading journalists, senior executives, visionary authors, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders who shape industries and ideas. Each episode dives into the most important trends and stories redefining how the world builds, scales, and innovates — from Asia to the globe.

The Cisco Podcast Network is a collective of podcasts from across Cisco spanning technology to culture and everything in between. Hear from Cisco customers, partners, and Cisco insiders on the topics that matter most to you. Email us with your feedback and suggestions. Discover your favorite playlists today!

This podcast is dedicated to sales leaders in the B2B space, where we share conversations about innovative and successful sales transformations to keep you up to date on the latest trends that will help you to effectively tackle the challenge of constructing and executing a profitable and sustainable sales process.

New tracks tagged #PartnerEcosystem