Exclusive Interview: Yvette McEnearney, Director - Channel, GoTo

1. Today, most of the IT support technology that is leveraged by customers goes through direct or indirect channel partner models. What is the role of channel partners when it comes to GoTo’s operations in delivering innovative products and growing the business, and how does flexible technology play a role in fostering partner relations?

Channel partnerships are a crucial aspect of facilitating business success. The role of channel partners has significantly evolved today. Shifting the narrative from just resale, profits, and upfront income, the partner model has remarkably revolutionized into a more service-based market just like the shift in the technology landscape. Channel partners must now deliver more than just exceptional technology; they must also be responsive, flexible, and strategic enablers. With the accelerated pace of digitalization, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can only make progress if they persistently innovate, improve, and develop.

Our solutions are built with SMEs in mind – and the partners who serve them, helping to address their requirements around IT management and support and business communications. Our products enable partners to deploy customised solutions quickly and easily – in fact, we recently announced a new version of our GoTo Resolve solution designed specifically for Managed Service Providers (MSPs). We are leveling the playing field for SMEs to compete with larger rivals by providing them with simple, accessible, and adaptable enterprise-grade solutions that can enable them to operate their business from anywhere.

Customers benefit from the product expertise and local assistance given by our trained partner's thanks to our partner-first strategy. We have specialized partner managers, pre-sales, and operations teams who work directly with our partner organizations to address their most pressing concerns, enabling them to develop their businesses with our solution offerings. We’re leveraging partners such as Technobind and Ingram Micro and their network and customer base to complement our direct sales effort to better reach and serve SMEs.

In order to balance the needs of the partner communities to foster their connections and market presence, what are the partner programs that GoTo implements in order to help and upskill the partners?

Emerging technological solutions are altering the way the channel works, engages, and transacts. Partners must be ready to meet rising needs while also keeping up with cutting-edge technology and solutions. Partners may undertake lifecycle activities that produce meaningful, incremental growth and maximize client lifetime value with the correct knowledge and tools. Specifically in APAC, we have:

• Restructured partner sales and support teams for better alignment by partner types, geographies, and performance.
• Streamlined contracts and company levels to align the full global partner ecosystem starting with traditional agency partners.
• Formalized tier levels with associated benefits relative to performance
• Dedicated in-region marketing, solutions consulting, and operations resources for increased in-region partner marketing planning/execution.
• Dedicated prioritised funds related to partner segmentation.
• Sales and marketing support being aligned with multiple partner types (Managed Service Providers and Distributors, Resellers etc.)
• Increased executive leadership dedicated to channel partners.

Our GoTo Partner Network programme provides a formalised tiering approach with related performance-based bonuses. This opens new income prospects for remote support, endpoint management, and other GoTo collaboration tools. We give our partners on-demand sales, enablement, marketing, training, and support tools, as well as everything they need to position, recommend, and sell GoTo products. In addition, our product specialists give enablement training to assist our partners in identifying the best solutions for their consumers. Partners have access to specialized pre-sales resources, as well as coaching throughout the client lifecycle, to effectively configure and quote solutions.

Which are the emerging technologies that will impact GoTo’s market strategy in 2023?

Economic changes inevitably have an impact on how businesses function and how workforces manage to complete their jobs as a group. Depending on the size of the company and the sector, executives can either search for new methods to decrease operational expenses or think of strategies to develop and scale the firm while staying cost-efficient. IT support tools serve as the backbone of operations in this case, customising features, simplifying communication flow, and providing IT help all in the name of supporting revenue generation and customer-support-related activities.

Some of the significant technical developments that have sustained corporate operations over the difficult years and are expected to build business resilience in the next months include:

Cloudification is the use of the cloud as both a technology and a business transformation approach. This trend is projected to continue, with a substantial movement toward digitalisation occurring across all layers of the technological stack - software, applications, platforms, infrastructure, and services.

Remote Monitoring and Management capabilities allow IT teams to monitor, access, control, and troubleshoot employees’ devices such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets anywhere in the world

IT Automation and Remote Execution remove the time and effort required for routine maintenance or issue resolution on employees’ devices, enabling teams to run tasks and workflows across thousands of devices simultaneously without disturbing the end user.

With the recession hitting across industries, how does GoTo plan on future-proofing enterprises with the right IT support suite, and how does the channel partner network fit into the picture?

Trying to balance the scale between managing crisis and driving growth, businesses across industries are bearing the heavy burden of economic downtime. The latest McKinsey scenarios, undertaken in partnership with Oxford Economics, suggest that the worldwide GDP will most likely contract overall in 2023. Since these economic headwinds impact price and sourcing, business decisions must be made with caution. Leaders may either proactively search for new methods to decrease operational expenses or find ways to develop and scale their operation while staying cost-efficient, depending on the size of the organisation and the sector.

GoTo collaborated with Frost & Sullivan to survey and understand the sentiments of businesses about flexible work, along with the impact that supporting a distributed workforce has on IT teams. There was a clear consensus that companies that had robust digital systems in place were able to ensure business continuity and recover quickly. Choosing solutions that adapt to the way a business runs and understanding that only the right kind of digitalisation will help a business unlock growth by bringing transparency, efficiency, and speed into the business which is crucial for its success. GoTo is equipped with the right solutions such as GoTo Resolve and Rescue that are simple yet secure to enable IT teams to keep their workforce securely supported. Unlike other products in the market, GoTo looks beyond just remote support. It is focused on IT management and communications that includes video meetings, virtual events, remote support, remote access, and visual engagement, among others.

India is one of the most important destinations for SaaS-based technology, hybrid work models, and customer support organisations, and we aim to expand here at both the corporate and product levels. We are collaborating closely with many channel partners and GSIs to develop robust IT support capabilities for organisations of all sizes. Partners understand the pulse of the customers and therefore, working through channel partners is a core part of our expansion strategy.

What are GoTo’s expansion plans in the coming future?

At GoTo, we view partner networks as a key factor to scale our business, and capitalising on our partner network is the principal component of our expansion strategy. At the same time, we want to foster and grow these partner relationships as genuine partnerships, not just transactions, so both businesses can benefit. Through our partner-first approach, we plan on developing an insightful information base, working together with our India partners to utilize their expertise and deliver customised solutions to customers efficiently. Customers benefit from the product expertise and local support provided by our trained partners.

Our solutions are especially important for enterprises focusing on BFSI, ITeS, BPO, Higher Education, and Healthcare to better serve and connect their workers and customers securely. It's all about making things easier for customers.

GoTo recently announced two major updates to the Partner Network, including a new GoTo Resolve offering designed for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) as well as our Partner Concierge Program. GoTo is considered second to none when it comes to developing innovative undertakings in the partner ecosystem. We aim to provide additional investment and resources to drive higher demand generation and sales for all partner organisations by tailoring marketing campaigns, co-branded and targeted based on a partner’s unique audience, maximising visibility with prospective customers and bringing in new qualified leads.