When you’re in the channel, you often tell friends and family that the industry is unique. To dig a bit deeper into what actually makes the channel feel different, and how enterprise-level experience at vendors and resellers is now shaping internal strategy at Climb, we spoke with the distributor’s CIO, Vishal Pushpa.
From vendor to partner to distributor: Pushpa charts channel relationships at scale
Pushpa has decades of experience in technology, starting his career in development at Oracle, a role he says ultimately taught him he “wasn’t a programmer at heart, but rather a designer.”
Pushpa first found his way into the channel when he joined the team at WWT in 2011, witnessing the company’s explosive growth and transformation beyond a traditional reseller model.
He says experiencing that growth was an interesting journey that taught him a lot about the industry and what was possible within the channel.
He also highlights the channel’s ability connect technology and solutions as a key pathway to success for many within it.
“I know where I want to go but to actually cut the deal, it can take a long time and a lot of steps. In the channel, those avenues are vastly different,” said Pushpa.
How Pushpa is taking his varied experiences to the next phase of Climb’s growth
Pushpa joined Climb in June of this year to take the role of chief information officer. He says the trajectory ahead for Climb feels similar to what he experienced at WWT.
“Coming here allows me to relive that nostalgia from 2011 at WWT,” Pushpa said. “The vision here is clear, and people are excited to pick up speed and grow. It’s refreshing to join a company again at a moment like this.”
Now, Pushpa says, he is excited to leverage everything Climb has to offer in terms of technology and relationships.
“There is so much access to technology, especially the emerging software Climb focuses on. I now can see so many options in front of me,” Pushpa said.
Climb has seen steady growth organically and through acquisition over the past few years. The distributor’s leadership has continued to chart goals for future growth, and Pushpa says he has brought the culmination of his experience to building the foundation for that success.
“The vision is clear and people here are all excited to pick up the speed,” Pushpa said. “The question now is how an organization like this can scale and do more with less, or at least without adding resource at the same level we’re adding scale.”
“For me, it’s about explaining to the teams here that what we’re doing is great but that everyone should be challenging the status quo,” he continued.