Elie Mikhael, Regional Channel and Alliance Director, CEMEA, SAS, describes his management philosophy as being geared towards inspiring others, by empowering, supporting and making them dream big. Mikhael talks about his current channel position at US-headquartered statistical, analytics and business intelligence software suite developer SAS.
Describe your current job role and the parts that are somewhat challenging?
In my role, I lead the channel and alliances organisation at SAS across Russia, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA). Across the region, there is an evident shift towards expediting technological change, with data as a constant, key factor in the equation. I am privileged to work with a group of world-class executives, the savviest players in the analytics ecosystem that help accelerate value creation by doubling down on channel partners and global system integrators.
With such a diverse stakeholder and customer landscape, we aggressively work towards adapting our overall solution and service offering to deliver a better customer transformation experience, geared towards their needs.
Can you explain how your company works with channel partners?
SAS history of partnering dates back to our inception when we analysed agricultural data to improve crop yields, funded by the National Institute of Health and NC State University. Throughout our more than 40 years in existence, SAS has partnered seamlessly with global system integrators, consulting firms and local system integrators.
SAS engages with channel partners via multiple streams, unlocking opportunity and growth, in both straightforward sell-through and sell-with approaches. In recent years, we have also introduced new streams of engagement. For example, Managed Analytic Services Providers (MASP) are customers or partners that integrate SAS technology with their intellectual property to create hosted analytics solutions. MASPs are becoming increasingly important in today’s analytics market because they provide flexible solutions and industry-specific offerings.
How do you ensure channel partners flourish in a highly competitive market?
The analytics market and AI is booming. The world today generates more data in just two days than it did from the dawn of civilisation until 2003! This represents a plethora of opportunities to engage with potential partners.
In a competitive market, the race among companies to stand out is fierce and we have to innovate to allow our partners to be the first to stand out. This is why we have created a specialisation programme that gives partners access to unique training across various domains. For example, upon entering and completing the programme, partner companies will earn a specialisation badge that can be used to promote and differentiate their organisation’s capabilities.
What are the latest trends you see emerging across the channel?
The COVID-19 induced global shift to remote working has yielded new learnings in business agility and has paved the way for advanced technological solutions. Organisations are increasingly reliant on digitally-simplified, value-added, strategic support as they increase their investments in cloud computing. To engage and meet partners and customers from various sectors at every level, it is crucial to provide tools that provide insights into customer demands, market opportunities, and enterprise priorities. Simplifying and enhancing the move to the virtual, at a time when consumers and vendors went online with their transactions, paves the way for data to become the biggest commodity to be harnessed.
Another trend is related to the education and embedding of data analytics and AI solutions within a companies’ business framework, which is encouraged and thankfully becoming more prevalent. The focus on these learning stages especially in emerging markets is the key to unlocking significant impact and accelerated adoption of AI and analytics solutions.
What is your management philosophy?
Personally, differentiating between leaders and those who lead is a crucial aspect of any management role. Simon Sinek, who was a part of SAS’s virtual Global Forum in 2020, says that leaders hold a position of power or influence, while those who lead seek to inspire. My management philosophy has evolved over the years and will continue to do through the engagement within this diverse region that we operate in. I have been geared towards inspiring others, by empowering, supporting and making them dream big. To be able to demonstrate competence, we need to embrace trust and integrity, which are at the core of my philosophy. I believe that it is only when we start dreaming big that we start achieving big things and impossible actually means nothing.
What made you think of a career in technology?
Technology is the past, present and future. This industry is potentially the most challenging and inspiring sector. As an industry, technology’s core purpose is breaking new ground and reimagining how anything – old or new – is or can be done. With the vision, support and encouragement from people in my life, a career in tech and an opportunity to play a role in shaping the future were motivators for me to pursue it. I fully believe that it keeps your mind young and fresh, allowing you to have an all-access pass to organisations and initiatives worldwide.
What do you think will be the hot technology talking point of 2021?
Apart from the technologies that address the need for remote connectivity and efficiency, undoubtedly Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain, virtual reality and cloud computing will continue to dominate the conversation among demographically-diverse segments of society. Also, the rollout of 5G worldwide will be a game-changer for nations, people and governments. If 4G created the mobile app business, which honestly has changed all our lives, I see 5G as the start of a brave new future.