Wendy Inwood, HYCU, Inc.

Wendy Inwood is senior manager for EMEA channel at HYCU, Inc. Wendy is a successful and innovative sales executive who has demonstrated exceptional skills in developing and driving sales strategies and brand awareness within the IT sector.

She currently works to help HYCU grow and enhance its channel business in EMEA. Her work has been instrumental in establishing new channel partner relationships and maximising relationships with existing partners and platform providers.

In particular, Wendy has been working with the team to establish new and growing relationships with key SaaS partner channel partners, including Atlassian, where the team has signed a number of new Platinum and Gold Level Atlassian partners. Prior to HYCU, she was a partner business manager at Commvault. She believes in the importance of establishing strong relationships with clients.

She consistently utilises a variety of methods to ensure the full potential of sales are generated. This includes embedding herself within the sales department of resellers to upskill, increase brand visibility and resolve queries in a speedy manner. By delivering excellent customer care she has increased the uptake of propositions and significantly improved organisational profitability.

Number of years in current role:

1

Number of years in current company:

2

Number of years involved in indirect/channel sales:

23

Reports to:

Coley Burke, CRO

Number of employees in channel organisation:

62

What percentage of overall sales come through the channel?

100 per cent

What is your personal channel philosophy?

You need to model the behaviour you expect of yourself and the team. There are times that you may not have all the available resources you need but you need to be able to get the job done.

What were your biggest personal channel accomplishments over the past year?

After the launch of R-Cloud, HYCU implemented a partner-focused capture and enablement activities to help SaaS-based solutions partners deliver data protection as a service to existing customers where no other solutions were available. I was instrumental in driving the EMEA effort with Atlassian partners.

What were your organisation's biggest channel accomplishments over the past year?

CRN 5-Star Partner Program Guide, CRN Cloud 100, CRN Stellar Startup.

What areas would you like to see your channel partners invest in in 2024?

More SaaS application support as there are so many still unprotected. Certifications and training with vendors. Take advantage of what the companies like HYCU are already doing from a programme perspective.

Joint marketing and event initiatives where companies like HYCU can provide education and training to key partner executives and their customers.

What are the biggest challenges facing your partners in 2024?

Providing differentiation and compelling alternate solutions from what other solutions and channel partner companies provide. Maximising value for their customer so their customers not only get the best solutions possible but also the most cost-effective and efficient to solve their greatest challenges.

Growth. With the economy in the state it is, growth will be uneven, and partners need to be prepared to weather the storm.

In what ways do you use your role to build equity and inclusion?

As a female channel executive, you need to lead by example. To build equity and inclusion, you need to set the right example for your colleagues, teams, and partner organisations. I work hard to ensure that both equity and inclusion are front and centre in all that we do and that we help by taking the steps necessary to be successful. I wish I could say it is easy, but it requires work, day in and day out.

Describe how your use of market development funds (MDF) is changing this year?

Like in the past year, HYCU will continue to leverage MDF especially for our Premier status partners as well as those that are investing in new services to support multi-cloud and SaaS-based applications to maximise their business opportunities with HYCU.

What are your biggest channel priorities in 2024?

Add more qualified partners, launch new certifications and/or partner levels and increase the amount of recurring revenue going through partners.