Christina Klein is the Head of Global Solution Partners at Lansweeper, an IT Asset Management solution that gathers hardware and software information of computers and other devices on a computer network for management and compliance and audit purposes. Klein’s management philosophy is creating opportunity – for the company, the team, partners, and customers. Klein explains how she is working with channel partners globally.
Describe your current job role and the parts that are somewhat challenging?
As the Global Head of Channel at Lansweeper, I’m responsible for setting the strategy for how we attract, engage, and activate our channel partners. The biggest challenge we have at this stage in our programme is managing our staggering growth. Lansweeper is a best-in-class discovery and inventory platform that enables a wide variety of use cases – from IT asset management (ITAM) to cybersecurity to software asset management (SAM) and more – making it a very attractive tool for managed service providers (MSPs), service providers and consultants. Ensuring we can effectively support the broad variety of partners and their unique, global go to market (GTM) routes is the single greatest challenge that keeps me up at night.
Can you explain how your company works with channel partners?
Lansweeper does not want to just take orders from our partners. Our aspiration is to enable our partners through collaborative business planning, GTM activation, co-marketing, technical enablement and more. We want to become an integral part of our partners’ business and help enable them to go further, faster.
How do you ensure channel partners flourish in a highly competitive market?
In order for channel partners to flourish, it’s imperative they create a differentiated service offering that helps them stand apart from their competition. Whether that is identifying and developing expertise in a particular industry or in a high-demand service area like cybersecurity, Lansweeper shares insights from around the world to enable our partners to differentiate their service offering and provides partners with the data needed to fulfil that service to their end-customer. What’s more, Lansweeper works with our managed and strategic partners to jointly co-market their services and attract new customers with the solution they need.
What are the latest trends you see emerging across the channel?
When I look at the trends happening in the channel, they align with the needs we hear from our end-customers. Organisations of all sizes are struggling with the same issues: cyberthreats, regulatory compliance, asset management during the pandemic, and how to keep business moving forward with a dispersed workforce. Channel partners are constantly evolving their services to meet those needs and provide the expertise needed to help resolve, but they’re not doing it alone.
One big trend we’re seeing is partners working together to augment each other’s services to solve customers’ biggest challenges. ITAM partners are working with cybersecurity partners to ensure not only all devices are identified and managed, but they are all secured as well.
We’re also seeing a big drive to integrate data from our platform into purpose-built software applications. For example, integrating Lansweeper discovery and inventory data into a multi-cloud migration tool or software asset management tool. Partners are looking for ways to create efficiency without compromising quality and integrations like these are one way to accomplish both.
What is your management philosophy?
I believe in creating opportunity – for my company, for my team, for our partners, and ultimately for our customers. Functionally that means I’m looking for ways to mentor, guide, inspire and provide new opportunities for others to achieve their goals. If I can do that, I’ve accomplished what I’m here to do.
When you look back at your career, what has been the most memorable achievement?
Honestly, I think I’m working on it right now. I’ve owned a successful consulting business, functioned as chief revenue officer of another company that was acquired by Microsoft, and helped mentor many talented individuals – all of which I’m very proud of. But building this channel and helping to scale a company with such tremendous talent and opportunity is what I’ve been working toward my entire career. I truly believe the work I’m doing now at Lansweeper will be my most memorable achievement.
What made you think of a career in technology?
I started coding on a Commodore 64 in elementary school and ever since I made my name fly across that blipping black screen, I was intrigued by what technology can do. I love to create and problem solve and technology enables that at a scale and velocity like no other. There is always something new to learn, new challenges to overcome, and new opportunities to be discovered in the tech industry and I find that so energising to be a part of!
What do you think will be the hot technology talking point of 2022?
I think we’re going to continue hearing more about IoT and how we can leverage real-time data to enable technology that serves individuals better. If you look at what’s happening with Telcos and the infrastructure being laid for reducing latency in data transfer, for example, and how more and more devices, appliances, functional homewares like light bulbs, are becoming connected and “smart”, I think we’re going to move closer to the world of the Jetsons faster than ever! What’s more, when you consider how the corporate world has evolved in the past 18 months due to COVID-19, our ability to leverage our personal environments and assets to enable better performance in a remote-workplace world will also be top of mind.
What are your personal interests and where do you like to spend most of your time after work?
I love to build – home improvement has been a hobby since I was in middle school. I love the creativity of it and, having spent my career in front of a laptop, I find there are few things as satisfying as a day of manual labour! When I’m not remodeling something, I’m either in the kitchen cooking, playing soccer or skiing with my family.