Ken Patterson, who has over 20 years experience working for MSPs, will run the new Boot Camp series of education-focused road shows, and provide a more technically-focused Pax8 resource available at the shows they attend.
Ken Patterson, Pax8’s first-ever Director of Community.
Denver-based cloud distributor Pax8 has announced the appointment of Ken Patterson, who has spent two decades working for MSPs, to the new role of Director of Community. He will report to Jennifer Bodell, Pax8’s Vice President of Channel. His role, defined broadly, will be to manage the company’s community outreach program and partner relationships. In practical terms, in addition to providing an additional, more technical presence at shows, Patterson will be instrumental in a new initiative Pax8 is planning for next year. He will play a key role in the design and operation of Boot Camp road shows that Pax8 will be running, at which the distributor and their value proposition will be articulated to MSP audiences.
“This is a brand new position, that was created specifically to expand our initiatives with MSPs,” Bodell said.
Patterson came to Pax8 from Techevolution, a Boston-based MSP, where he had been the executive vice president managing the company’s operations and processes for its sales and marketing departments. It was the most recent stop in more than 20 years of experience growing and managing operations for MSPs.
Most companies who operate with MSPs have a person in the particular role that Patterson now fills for Pax8, and Patterson said that there is a good reason for that.
“The role is very important from a standpoint of communication, and creating flow between what MSPs want and need, and deciphering that for the vendors,” he stated. “As an MSP, that was important. It was much better than dealing with a sales rep or sales engineer. Things didn’t always translate that well when they got back to the vendor. With my 20 years plus of background in the MSP business, I can understand what they want and deliver it back to Pax8.”
Patterson’s appointment will also facilitate a more aggressive strategy by Pax8 in getting in front of more MSPs – specifically at a series of road shows that they plan to run next year.
“We will continue to do all the events we do now next year and make sure we are still in front of many MSPs, but this new series of road shows, which will be called Boot Camps, will be on top of those,” Bodell said. “With Ken’s expertise on the MSP side, and his one-on-one contacts among MSPs, he will develop these and tailor them to the MSPs.”
“That will be my main job function, running the road shows that we are creating over the next year,” Patterson said. “That’s something that we are working on now, and we haven’t finished that time line yet. The object of these Boot Camps will be on giving MSPs the education that they need to help sell their products.”
Patterson’s deep familiarity with the MSP business will be on display at the regular show circuit that Pax8 attends as well.
“His level of knowledge of the details of the industry will let us bring a different level of conversation than the high-level ones we typically have at the booth,” Bodell said.
