Celebrating success: SUSE features in CRN’s Women of the Channel List

The CRN Women of the Channel list recognizes women who demonstrate exceptional channel leadership, strategic vision, and advocacy that impacts business growth and innovation in the IT channel.  This annual list serves as a guide showcasing top leaders who are dedicated to continuous advancement of the channel.  This year the list recognizes four outstanding women from SUSE, who have shown unique strengths, vision, and achievements of IT channel, and who are trailblazers for future generations.

Get to know the women who work within our Ecosystem team here at SUSE:

Rachel Cassidy, SVP Ecosystem, SUSE

How have you personally helped advance your company’s channel business over the past year?

I drove the value of the ecosystem across stakeholders now reflected with a Partner First strategy. Streamlining go to market alignment, removing friction from channel conflict through improved comp plans, greater alignment, enablement of partners, and focus on co-sell and collaboration.

I created an evolved global ecosystem organization removing silos serving the ecosystem holistically. Next evolution of SUSE One Partner Program with refreshed specializations, incentives, tooling, and enablement. This included simplifying partner buying programs enabling partners to transact more seamlessly and enhanced partner incentives to reward partners aligned with impact.

What is your superpower and how has it helped you build your career?

My intuition and ability to understand and read people has always served me well. I look to understand how an individual communicates, reacts, and learns, to improve effective communication and overall alignment. Helping others to understand each other through their communication, approach, body language to facilitate collaboration is key to building and driving change in any organization with advocacy and support. I also listen to my gut, my instinct. If something feels wrong, it usually is and this drives me to understand and learn more so I can make the best and well informed decision balancing head and heart.

Christine Puccio, Head of Cloud, SUSE

What are your goals for your company’s channel business over the next year?

• Support the next level of exponential growth leveraging the power of marketplace and to create program offerings that support SUSE’s current partner model with cloud specific offerings.
• Support our customer’s choices by providing more buying options through marketplace, providing less friction for our customers to utilize SUSE software through marketplace.
• Enable sales teams to develop and deepen cloud co-sell motions.

What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

I am passionate about learning and pushing boundaries, I thrive on overcoming challenges through taking risks. A prime example is my spontaneous entry into the challenging Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, despite no prior triathlon training. Selected through a draw, I committed to rigorous preparation, fueled by a determination to finish. This bold approach reflects my confidence in tackling the unknown, embodying my determination for growth and embracing opportunities beyond my comfort zone.

Jill Schiller, Partner Executive

Provide a brief synopsis of your key channel-related accomplishments over the last year.  Answer this with a view toward your personal channel accomplishments as opposed to your company’s.

I was able to leverage my network to assist our internal Sales Force in building their network and relationships with Partners and Distribution. This has been key to help grow SUSE’s brand within the Channel Ecosystem.

What is your superpower and how has it helped you build your career?

My superpower is building relationships and networking. A teammate calls me JillGPT because even if I do not know the answer to a question I know the person who does. I believe that building your network is key to advancing your career.

Allison Greis, Senior Channel Marketing Manager, NA

What are your goals for your company’s channel business over the next year?

• Achieve tighter alignment with NA Field Marketing peers on my team supporting a new regional sales model that has a partner first approach.
• Expand partner demand generation activities with customers in regions.
• Drive deeper penetration into focused partners that are national in scope while pairing up with SUSE sales representatives for engagement.

What is your superpower and how has it helped you build your career?

I’ve been referred to as Eagle Eyes. With an extreme and thoughtful focus on details, I pay attention to the little things and make sure plans are thorough to ensure success. That has helped avoid fire drills which are stressful for everyone involved! This has contributed to being a trusted team member who can be relied on to get things done, take on new tasks and deliver quality results.

As I reflect on the incredible journey of these four remarkable women from SUSE, I am inspired by their dedication to our partner ecosystem, and the tireless way they work to make our partnerships successful.  I hope you feel like you have gotten to know these women a bit more – but full coverage can be found in CRN’s 2024 Women of the Channel list.