Check it out here.
Starting way back in 2009, when I moved to the U.S. from Canada, I began my fascination with how a huge global industry, with tens of millions of people across hundreds of thousands of companies, could be boiled down to about 100 influencers and superconnectors.
Back then, I collected all 16 channel magazines, attended dozens of tradeshows, studied associations, peer groups, bloggers and activity on social media and manually created a master spreadsheet. Every time I came across a keynote speaker, top industry list, writer, board member, trainer, community leader, or vendor/distributor executive, I would write their name, company and title down along with one check-mark. If I came across them again, another check-mark was given.
My hypothesis was that these connectors and influencers would be omnipresent in the industry - showing up at different shows, articles, press releases, top industry lists, communities, radio shows, and so on. A quick sort on check-marks would give me a visibility list - and what I thought was a solid influence list.
Back then, I collected all 16 channel magazines, attended dozens of tradeshows, studied associations, peer groups, bloggers and activity on social media and manually created a master spreadsheet. Every time I came across a keynote speaker, top industry list, writer, board member, trainer, community leader, or vendor/distributor executive, I would write their name, company and title down along with one check-mark. If I came across them again, another check-mark was given.
My hypothesis was that these connectors and influencers would be omnipresent in the industry - showing up at different shows, articles, press releases, top industry lists, communities, radio shows, and so on. A quick sort on check-marks would give me a visibility list - and what I thought was a solid influence list.
And I was mostly right.
Fast forward to today and I continue to keep track of numerous industry sources to keep the list updated. In fact, there are 36 sources that I regularly update including lists of channel leaders from leading global channel magazines, keynote speakers, various board and advisory council members, and others.
Disclaimer: This is an objective view of the data - a scoring algorithm based on visibility across 36 different communities, importance factor, and timing recency.
I do have another more subjective list that ranks people based on perceived influence, reach and leadership in the industry - but that is for another day. :-)
A couple of interesting anecdotes:
1. The research tracks 2,855 people with multiple community touchpoints across 1,702 companies.
2. Social media activity is high among the top 100 - 65% of them are on Twitter, with just under half of those having 1,000+ followers. 99% of them are on Linkedin - here is looking at you Mike Cullen :-)
Anyway, here is a stack-ranked list of the top 100 IT/Telecom industry leaders by visibility:
1. Rob Rae, Vice President of Business Development , Datto Points: 57
2. Janet Schijns, Vice President Global Channels, Verizon Points: 50
3. Dave Sobel, Senior Director of Partner Community, Solarwinds MSP Points: 49
4. Len DiCostanzo, SVP, Community and Business Development, Autotask Points: 48
5. Arnie Bellini, CEO, ConnectWise Points: 48
6. MJ Shoer, Chief Technology Officer, Internet & Telephone Points: 44
7. Vince Tinnirello, CEO, Anchor Network Solutions Points: 41
8. Craig Schlagbaum, VP, Indirect Channel Sales, Comcast Points: 40
9. Brooks McCorcle, President, Partner Solutions, AT&T Points: 38
10. Scott Barlow, VP, Global MSP, Sales & Marketing Points: 37
11. Ted Roller, Owner, GetChanneled Points: 36
12. Gary Pica, Owner, TruMethods Points: 34
13. Arlin Sorensen, CEO & Founder, HTG Peer Groups Points: 34
14. Renee Bergeron, Vice President, Cloud Computing, Ingram Micro Inc. Points: 31
15. Larry Walsh, CEO and Chief Analyst, The 2112 Group Points: 30
16. Jason Bystrak, Executive Director - The Americas, Ingram Micro Points: 30
17. Mary Ellen Grom, VP US Marketing, Synnex Points: 29
18. Dave Seibert, President, SMB TechFest Points: 29
19. Wendy Bahr, SVP Global Partner Organization, Cisco Systems Points: 28
20. Dina Moskowitz, CEO, SaaSMAX Corp. Points: 28
21. Shannon Mayer, Vice President of Channel Development, ASCII Points: 28
22. Neal Bradbury, Co-founder & VP of Channel Development, Intronis Inc. Points: 28
23. David Graffia, VP Sales, dinCloud Points: 28
24. Mike Cullen, VP of Sales, Solarwinds MSP Points: 28
25. Tiffani Bova, Global, Customer Growth and Innovation Evangelist, Salesforce Points: 27
26. Stuart Crawford, CEO, Ulistic Points: 27
27. Karl Palachuk, Owner, Small Biz Thoughts Points: 27
28. Ted Hulsy, VP of Marketing, eFolder Points: 27
29. Ed Correia, CEO, Sagacent Technologies Points: 27
30. Stuart Selbst, President, Infratactix Points: 26
31. Nancy Hammervik, Senior Vice President Industry Relations, CompTIA Points: 26
32. Toni Clayton-Hine, VP, Global Marketing & Value Proposition, Xerox Points: 26
33. Darrin Swan, CEO, CloudRunner Points: 25
34. Cheryl Cook, Vice President, Global Channels & Alliances, Dell Points: 24
35. Meredith Caram, Executive Director - AT&T Partner Solutions, AT&T Points: 24
36. Jamison West, Founder & CEO, Arterian Points: 24
37. Carmen Sorice, SVP, Global Channel Sales and Programs, Sungard AS Points: 24
38. Shannon Sbar, VP Channels North America, APC by Schneider Electric Points: 24
39. Leslie Bois, Vice President Channel Sales-North America , Kaspersky Lab Points: 24
40. Michelle Accardi, Chief Operating Officer, Star2Star Communications Points: 24
41. Brooke Cunningham, AVP, Global Partner Programs & Operations, Splunk Points: 23
42. Jeannine Edwards, Sr Director, Platform Strategy, ConnectWise Points: 23
43. Luis Alvarez, President & CEO, Alvarez Technology Group Points: 23
44. Dan Wensley, President, Passportal Points: 23
45. Alessandra Brambilla, Vice President WW, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Points: 23
46. Curtiz Gangi, Vice President, US Channels, Datacenter Segment, Eaton Points: 23
47. Frank Vitagliano, VP North American Partner Sales, Dell Points: 23
48. Bob Gault, EVP Worldwide Sales Services Channels, Extreme Networks Points: 23
49. Scott Dunsire, VP GM Americas Channels, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Points: 23
50. Todd Thibodeaux, CEO, CompTIA Points: 22
51. Bill Lipsin, VP Worldwide Channels, NetApp Points: 22
52. Amy Babinchak, Owner, ThirdTier Points: 22
53. Theresa Caragol, Founder & Consultant, Theresa Caragol Consulting Points: 22
54. Kevin Royalty, Managing Partner, Total Care Computer Consulting Points: 22
55. Susan Bradley, Partner, TSHB Points: 22
56. Justin Crotty, Senior Vice President Channel Sales and Marketing, NetEnrich Points: 21
57. Tracy Pound, Managing Director, Maximity Limited Points: 21
58. Carolyn April, Senior Director of Industry Research, CompTIA Points: 21
59. Barbara Spicek, VP Worldwide Channel Sales, Gigamon Points: 21
60. Colleen Kapase, VP Partner GTM, Incentives and Programs, VMWare Points: 21
61. Donna Grothjan, VP WW Channel Distribution, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Points: 21
62. Kendra Krause, VP Channels, Sophos Points: 21
63. Cindy Bates, Vice President US SMB, Microsoft Points: 20
64. Kimberly Martin, VP, Worldwide Partner Strategy & Sales, Citrix Systems Points: 20
65. Erick Simpson, Co-Founder, Senior Vice President and CIO, SPC International Points: 20
66. Terry Hedden, CEO, Marketopia Points: 20
67. James Foxall, President, Tigerpaw Software Points: 20
68. Ron Culler, CTO, Secure Designs Inc. Points: 20
69. Carl Mazzanti, Founder and CEO, eMazzanti Technologies Points: 20
70. Colleen Browne, Director, NA Channel and Enterprise Sales, Viewsonic Points: 20
71. Linda Brotherton, General Manager, ConnectWise Points: 20
72. Alex Rogers, CEO, CharTec Points: 20
73. Mary Campbell, Vice President of Marketing, D&H Distributing Points: 20
74. Steven Banks, President, Banks Consulting Northwest Inc. Points: 20
75. Jeanne Hopkins, Senior Vice President & CMO, Continuum Managed Services Points: 19
76. Vincent Brissot, Head of Channel Marketing & Operations, HP Points: 19
77. Marie Rourke, Owner & President, WhiteFox Marketing and Communications Points: 19
78. Greg VanDeWalker, SVP and General Manager, GreatAmerica Leasing Points: 19
79. Paul Dippell, CEO, Service Leadership Points: 19
80. Julie Hens, Vice President, U.S./Canada Channels Distribution, Cisco Systems Points: 19
81. Craig West, SVP, Channel Sales, NetSuite Points: 19
82. Jim Lippie, Chief Advisor, Clarity Channel Advisors Points: 19
83. Nancy Reynolds, Vice President, Americas Channel Sales, LogRhythm Points: 19
84. Barry Williams, Executive Director, Indirect Channel Sales, Comcast Points: 19
85. Robin Robins, Owner, Technology Marketing Toolkit Points: 18
86. Phil Sorgen, Corporate VP - U.S. Enterprise and Partner Group, Microsoft Points: 18
87. Jed Ayres, CEO, IGEL Technology Points: 18
88. Jane Cage, Managing Principal, InsightFive22 Points: 18
89. Peter Sandiford, CEO, Netsone Technologies Points: 18
90. Jan Spring, Vice President, Channel Development, eFolder Points: 18
91. Gavin Garbutt, Strategic Advisor, VIPSoftware Co. Points: 18
92. Jerry Koutavas, President, ASCII Points: 18
93. Harry Brelsford, Director of Business Development, LeadSCORZ Points: 18
94. Terry Wise, Vice President, WW Alliances, Channels and Ecosystem, Amazon Points: 18
95. Vince Bradley, CEO, WTG Points: 18
96. Tricia Atchison, Vice President, Global Partner Marketing, CA Technologies Points: 17
97. Amy Luby, Vice President Sales - US, Sinefa Points: 17
98. Zak Karsan, Co-Founder, SecureEDEN Points: 17
99. Dee Dee Acquista, Vice President, WW Channel Sales, Proofpoint Points: 17
100. Erin Malone, Vice President, NA Channel Sales, Sophos Points: 17
Next time you are at an industry conference, make sure to say hi to these folks.
Applying the law of Kevin Bacon, you will be one-degree of separation of millions of people by knowing these leaders. Also, follow them on Twitter and Linkedin - some of the best thought leadership you will find anywhere!