Our next Ecosystem Pioneer is Michelle Torres, Director of Technology Alliances at Zendesk. An expert in building relationships with a wide variety of SaaS companies, Michelle focuses on product and integration partnerships, and explains why an ideal teammate would be a jack of all trades who is curious about product development.

We’re excited to spotlight Cathleen Nelson, Global Director of Strategic Cloud Alliances at JFrog as our next Ecosystem Pioneer. Recognizing the potential of cloud partnerships well before they took off, Cathleen has figured out how to expertly leverage these alliances and marketplaces for growth.

Scott explains how a mentality of “collaboration over competition” led him to where he is today, establishing relationships with GSIs and helping partners grow.

I lead partnerships at Mux, and have been at the company for about 2.5 years, where I started in strategic sales. I have a long history in the streaming space and a combination of experience in product, user experience (UX), editorial, business development, professional services – and partnerships.

This month’s Ecosystem Pioneer is Todd Odess, Director & Head of Partnerships at Upsolver. Todd’s experience building a wide variety of partnerships around the globe has given him a unique perspective on how to forge valuable partnerships, continuously innovate, and put all the pieces together cohesively.

Leading BetterCloud’s partnership strategy is Emily Catalado, VP of Alliances. We had the pleasure of interviewing Emily Cataldo about her experience, best practices, and challenges as an Ecosystem Pioneer. BetterCloud is the leading SaaS Management Platform (SMP) that enables IT professionals to discover, manage, and secure their cloud applications in a best-of-breed world.

While the concept of “Customer Success” has been utilized within SaaS companies for over 10 years, the requirement for a similar model in partner ecosystems is being recognized due to shifting business models and increased emphasis on building a successful partner ecosystem. About 68% of North American technology sales and greater than 80% outside of North America go through partnerships. This shows how important it is to manage your partner ecosystem as effectively and efficiently as you would manage your largest direct customers.