Basak Yolgecti is Head of Channel Marketing and Routes to Market, METI at Nutanix, which is a leader in private, hybrid and multicloud computing. Her motto in life is to ‘get 1% better every day’ – she explains what motivates her at work and outside the office.
Describe your current job role and the parts that are somewhat challenging?
I am the Head of Channel Marketing and Routes to Market at Nutanix, responsible for planning, implementing and overseeing marketing strategies with our channel partners across the Middle East, Israel and Turkey sub-regions. I believe a large part of success in life is shaped by a person’s attitude. I look at challenges as exciting opportunities for personal and professional growth. If I were to mention one ‘motivating challenge’ in my job, I would say that it would be working with a large number of diverse stakeholders across many countries, bringing into play varied cultures and work ethics.
Can you explain how your company works with channel partners?
Our go-to-market model at Nutanix is 100% channel, which demonstrates the important role our channel partners play in the success of the company. We believe in investing in outcomes and based on this approach, we identify Tier 1 partners based on their profile, capabilities and commitment to Nutanix business. The channel managers then focus their time and efforts in enabling these priority partners through training and certification, helping them develop and execute their GTM plans in order to ensure that the set objectives are achieved. We rely on our Value Added Distributors when it comes to Tier 2 partners, but give them all the support and investment required for business development.
As a regional marketing resource, my role involves co-operating with partners and supporting them in their tailor-made campaigns to create awareness, thought leadership and demand generation.
How do you ensure channel partners flourish in a highly competitive market?
As mentioned, our GTM strategy is purely through our channel ecosystem, which means that our success depends on their success. We have a highly focused approach with our Tier 1 partners and treat them as an extended part of our team. Nutanix invests heavily in these partners in terms of time, budget, education and support.
In September last year, Nutanix announced a new simplified partner programme called ‘Elevate’, designed for the multi-cloud era. Elevate brings our partner ecosystem together in a single programme architecture with enhanced services and investments that deliver simplification, profitability and an accelerated multi-product, multi-cloud roadmap towards partners’ business transformation.
Nutanix has great OEM partnerships with many strategic vendors like HPE, Lenovo, Fujitsu, Inspur, Dell EMC and IBM. This provides flexibility and choice to our partners who seek to provide more comprehensive data centre solutions in line with their customer needs, and this helps them to be more competitive in the market.
What are the latest trends you see emerging across the channel?
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the Digital Transformation ambitions of organisations. This has opened a lot of opportunities for the channel, but at the same time many are struggling with cash flow challenges due to customers demanding better credit terms/ longer payment cycles. Vendors have to be cognisant of this and work closely with the channel in supporting and helping them overcome these financial constraints.
The ‘new normal’ has forced a lot of channel organisations to re-evaluate their priorities and investments and focus on developing capabilities in technology areas like the cloud, for instance, that has become a customer imperative. We shall also see a lot of channel begin to offer professional services, which is a high margin business.
What is your management philosophy?
I work with many different partners in a very diversified geography. Even though it is a B2B industry, people work with people, so relationship building is a fundamental part of my role, and I love this.
I like to be perceived as an approachable and trusted collaborator by my partners, supporting them whenever they need. In other words, my aim is to form a ‘winning-team’ with them through strong relationships and trust. I believe that sums up my management philosophy.
When you look back at your career what has been the most memorable achievement?
Seeing the positive change in our channel ecosystem in terms of collaborating with Nutanix and creating value though our channel partners, I was recognised and awarded by our worldwide marketing team in August last year in the ‘Get stuff done’ category. I highly value this recognition, as it was earned after a year-long effort in building a co-operative channel ecosystem with our amazing team.
What made you think of a career in technology?
I studied Management at university and Marketing was my favourite subject. As a new graduate, one can feel lost and confused when deciding a career path. So, I decided to outline my top priorities and then pursue a career that ticked these boxes. It had to be a marketing role in an industry with a bright future, that gives me constant opportunities for learning and growth. In my opinion there is no other industry as dynamic or as transformational as the IT industry and so it was the obvious choice. So far, my experience in this industry has proved that I made the right decision.
What do you think will be the hot technology talking point of 2021?
2020 was a big turning point in our lives. The future of work is changing. With work from home/ remote working becoming the norm, end-user computing (EUC) environments – including both Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solutions – are rapidly replacing physical desktops and laptops in many workplaces.
What are your personal interests and where do you like to spend most of your time after work?
I thoroughly enjoy sports and used to be a licensed swimmer. My motto in life is: ‘Get 1% better every day,’ and so I constantly set myself challenges. In November I entered my first triathlon, for which I trained hard for six months. The experience was so enjoyable and enriching that I have decided to invest time and effort in training for more races in future. Other than sports, I enjoy music.