Leadership, as a topic, is one of my favourites to read up about. I believe that leaders are not born. For the most part I also believe leaders cannot be made or created from scratch or with some blueprint. I think leadership comes when there is a crisis.
We are in a crisis situation right now with the world’s economy basically is getting flushed down the toillet.
Edison Peres, one of Cisco’s two channel chiefs, is an executive I will always make time for because he is a channel advocate that can properly align vendor wants and needs with those of the channel. A difficult task for sure. He also is an individual who checks his ego at the door. Peres is a guy that gets it.
And, with this economic crisis and uncertainty at hand, he is being proactive as much as he can.
For example, Cisco is going to waive it channel audit for this year for partners in good standing. This is going to save partners a lot of money. Peres also said that Cisco isn’t going to force channel partners to buy any demo equipment this year. This gives solution providers another break.
Peres said that he understand that with this uncertainty there will be pressure on profits. Revenues will be down. Cash flow issues will become paramount. Tightening of credit for both end users and the channel will be a factor. There will be delays in payments and other unforseen things.
So far, from the feedback he has received from the channel there have been no major cancellations of projects, but there are delays.
“The bottom line is that it’s an uncertain world,” Peres said.
With all these pressures and negative factors weighing heavy on a channel partner’s shoulders it is time to do something. And, Peres has stepped up and done something. These two things that Peres has done is not going to be a cure all for all problems. It will make
