INTERVIEW Wayne Mason - Logitech
“What is surprising is how many of the large projects are still going on.”
Mason backs Video
Wayne Mason, UK&I Lead - B2B, Logitech
Wayne Mason has recently joined Logitech as the UK&I Lead - B2B at a time when conferencing is booming.
Comms Business caught up with Wayne to talk about developments in the market and how Logitech is planning
to empower and engage the Channel through this difficult time
Comms Business Magazine
(CBM): You are the new
boy! What a time to join the
business, how has it been?
Wayne Mason (WM): I started
in early January in the nal
quarter of a scal year which
is always fun! In that quarter
we have had Brexit, the
Coronavirus, oods and the
storm! It certainly has been an
interesting few months!
One of the reasons I joined
was the product portfolio,
the roadmap and the vision
Logitech have. For me, I had
stepped away from video
conferencing for about a year
so it’s great to be back. We
were gathering momentum
before COVID-19 and
partners were looking at
Logitech as a viable oer in
the video collaboration space.
Unfortunately, a lot of that
recent growth has come o the
back of tragic circumstances.
Logitech is not an island,
we are very much about
ecosystems and working with
our vendor partners. We have
altered some of the product
mix because of the situation.
What is surprising is how
many of the large projects
are still going on. ere has
certainly been a decline, but
the number of projects which
are still alive is incredible.
People are using the time to get
on top of projects and make
upgrades while the oces are
empty.
CBM: What does the
workplace look like if/ when
we go back?
WM: ere has been such a
paradigm shift I don’t think
we will ever go back to what
normal was pre-March 2020.
Small businesses are asking
themselves if they need the
oce now. I have already seen
examples of back to work
strategies where workforces
are split into threes, the
collaboration technology
will be the bridge between
those remote teams. I think
businesses will ask more of
people like us and partners like
Teams, Zoom and Google.
People will start using these
tools in earnest, the feedback
from usage will be more
signicant and it will drive the
acceleration of the technology
and its development.
CBM: You have made some
changes to your Logitech
One partner program, tell us
about that?
WM: It was launched just
before I joined but I have
always found there is a bit of
an education process whenever
you launch anything new. I
wanted to reach out to our
wider audience of partners and
really educate them.
On paper the program looks
great, but for me it was about
how do you make it eective
for the Channel Partner so it
really resonates. e Logitech
partner program is really
simple from that point of
view. It has a really good front
end and back end rewards
structure. We have three types
of level within the system. We
have Partner Premier, which
is our top partner (based on
a revenue number). en we
have Partner Certied, again
based on a revenue number.
en we have our Registered
Partners. Obviously, there are
incremental benets at the
front and back-ends depending
on which level you are at.
Logitech has spent a lot of
time and money on building
out rich assets to support
partners. e portal for deal
registration, for example, is
superb. We have developed a
rich resource of information
partners can gain access to.
CBM: How have you invested
to support partners through
this program?
WM: Aside from the portal we
have also made investments
in personnel to support the
implementation. It’s not just
me! We have also invested
in channel people so there is
always someone at the end of a
phone, or face to face when we
get back to normal. ere is a
very clear path from registered
partner and navigate, with
support, through to the top tier.
Another investment we
have made is with our high
touch teams. ey go out and
engage with end users directly
and support the Channel. We
launched Channel Assist which
basically means the Channel
doesn’t have to go to the same
person all the time when they
deal with us. Partners don’t
have to worry when someone is
away or not available, they don’t
just have one person to go to
all the time. We have a public
sector person, for example,
which can help with all those
opportunities and can work
with the Channel to close out
those deals. We have those
experts throughout the business
the partners can call on.
44 | Comms Business Magazine | June 2020 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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