@surbrar

Strategy Consultant

 Kamuela, Hawaii, USA
channelstrategy.org
Joined May 2009
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7Media
Check out my latest article: BMW Design Gone Wrong linkedin.com/pulse/bmw-desig… via @LinkedIn

BMW Design Gone Wrong

I became a BMW fan during my two summer internships with IBM in Stuttgart in the 70’s and have owned the brand for 45 years. My new purchases have sometimes had technical issues like the sunroof...

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Check out my latest article: When CEO Becomes Rock Star linkedin.com/pulse/when-ceo-… via @LinkedIn

When CEO Becomes Rock Star

It is difficult for CEOs to appear authentic if a celebrity bubble is created around them by the company’s own PR department. The goal of their staff is often to make him or her a rock star in the...

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Check out my latest article: Cisco Boards & Councils linkedin.com/pulse/cisco-boa… via @LinkedIn

Cisco Boards & Councils

Cisco made a fatal mistake in 2008 by implementing a new organization structure consisting of Boards & Councils to manage key initiatives selected by the company’s Operating Committee. It even had a...

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Check out my latest article: My Favorite Channel Board Meeting linkedin.com/pulse/my-favori… via @LinkedIn

My Favorite Channel Meeting

Even though I attended a decade of quarterly Channel Board Meetings all over the world during my career at Cisco, the one organized by Paul Mountford, our second Channel Chief, outside London is the...

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Check out my latest article: My Cisco Channel Talk Story linkedin.com/pulse/my-cisco-… via @LinkedIn

My Cisco Channel Talk Story

In Hawaii we “Talk Story” at sunset as some of you may know. I just want to explain what led me to publish six posts in a week, which I have never done before.

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Check out my latest article: End of Cisco Channel Act 1 linkedin.com/pulse/end-cisco… via @LinkedIn

End of Cisco Channel Act 1

Even though Cisco was missing the market transition to cloud, it still had deep relationships with the channel. The master at this was Edison Peres who had helped develop VIP and other programs, had...

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Check out my latest article: Cloudy Channel Future linkedin.com/pulse/cloudy-ch… via @LinkedIn

Cloudy Channel Future

I wrote an internal White Paper for Cisco’s channel leadership about the upcoming “Cloud Tsunami” in 2010 and the impact this would have on our channel. It said that reselling hardware would no...

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Check out my latest article: Channel Execution Machine linkedin.com/pulse/channel-e… via @LinkedIn

Channel Execution Machine

Now that Cisco's new value-based channel strategy was getting traction in the market, Keith Goodwin was appointed as the company’s third Channel Chief to execute it around the world. He leveraged the...

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Check out my latest article: Channel Comes of Age at Cisco linkedin.com/pulse/channel-c… via @LinkedIn

Channel Comes of Age at Cisco

Paul Mountford, Cisco’s second Channel Chief, created a worldwide Channel Board in 2003 that included his direct staff and the channel leader in each Theater, even though the Theater leader reported...

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Check out my latest article: Cisco's Transformational Channel Announcement linkedin.com/pulse/ciscos-tr… via @LinkedIn

Cisco's Transformational Channel Announcement

Cisco’s channel team had less than six months to prepare from a Sep. 2000 decision in Philadelphia to announcing the new channel go-to-market strategy at the upcoming annual partner summit in Las...

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Check out my latest article: The Start of my Channel Journey linkedin.com/pulse/start-my-… via @LinkedIn

The Start of my Channel Journey

I was hired by Cisco’s first Channel Chief, Tom Mitchell, in July 2000. In those days, the company’s hiring process was real simple: Tom interviewed me on a Thursday and I had an offer on Saturday,...

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Check out my latest article: A Channel Recognition Pandemic linkedin.com/pulse/channel-r… via @LinkedIn

A Channel Recognition Pandemic

Almost every channel leader, every channel woman, every channel rising star, every channel analyst, and every channel program seems to now be recognized in the IT industry; plus numerous lifetime...

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Check out my latest article: Channel Innovation in a Pandemic linkedin.com/pulse/channel-i… via @LinkedIn

Channel Innovation in a Pandemic

The complete market disruption caused by the pandemic has caught channel leaders flat-footed. Real innovation along with an organization’s ability to change are key to navigating this new abnormal.

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Check out my latest article: Friends & Family Non-Profit Boards linkedin.com/pulse/friends-f… via @LinkedIn

Friends & Family Non-Profit Boards

The current pandemic is exposing the problem with Boards made up mostly of friends and acquaintances. By definition, these Boards lack diversity of opinion because friends tend to think alike and...

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Great uplifting event for the community: Brother Noland Performs at Kahilu Theatre Benefit Concert bigislandmusic.net/brother-n…
Check out my latest article: True Measure of Manager Success linkedin.com/pulse/true-meas… via @LinkedIn

True Measure of an Authentic Manager

I recently got a call from someone who had worked in my organization over ten years ago. I was a bit surprised as we had not been in close touch, but he wanted to get some advice and also wanted me...

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Check out my latest article: The Silicon Islands linkedin.com/pulse/silicon-i… via @LinkedIn

The Silicon Islands

Having lived in Hawaii for nine years including working remotely for a leading Silicon Valley company for four of those years, the islands present a terrific opportunity for establishing a software...

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Check out my latest article: Transformative Pandemic linkedin.com/pulse/transform… via @LinkedIn

Transformative Pandemic

In most industries, innovation was always nice to have but never got sufficient attention before the current pandemic. It was fashionable for their CEOs to talk about it, invest in it as a side...

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Check out my latest article: Recurring Revenue Channel Model linkedin.com/pulse/recurring… via @LinkedIn

Recurring Revenue Channel Model

Channel transformation from a full up-front payment model to a recurring Land-Adopt-Expand-Renew (LAER) model is almost complete. Partners really do not have a choice as customers are driving this...

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Check out my latest article: Recurring Revenue Channel Transition linkedin.com/pulse/recurring… via @LinkedIn
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