In 2016, Lenovo Canada’s channel chief Stefan Bockhop (pictured above) said he would be targeting the company’s interest in data centres in Canada, and that move has certainly paid off in 2017.
Last summer, Bockhop was promoted to head the data centre business for Lenovo in North America, with Grey Myers taking over as the channel chief of Lenovo Canada. Myers is the former senior vice president of sales and marketing at Tech Data Canada, a role he held for nearly two decades.
Myers decided to depart Tech Data Canada after the integration of Avnet, and by going to Lenovo Canada, he is returning to his roots in the PC market. Myers started his career in the channel at Packard Bell/NEC.
2017 saw the efforts of Bockhop in the data centre space come to fruition. Last January the company launched its new Data Centre Program, a tiered benefit program that offers the company’s data centre partners new levels of industry credibility and prominence in the form of growth rebates, partner development funds, and access to dedicated resources.
Since taking over in the channel chief position, Myers has continued building on the four channel priorities Lenovo Canada outlined at its annual Accelerate conference. That four-pillar strategy for the channel involves accelerating end user sales, continuing to grow out vertical solutions and services, an ongoing focus on profit, and optimizing routes to market.
The second half of 2017 also saw Lenovo upgrade its sales incentive partner program, launch new artificial intelligence initiatives, and introduce a new mixed-reality headset as part of Microsoft’s new mixed reality family.