Schools do not exist to run technology. They exist to educate—and every technology decision must ultimately improve the experience of teachers and learners.

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards is joined by Max Feneck, Go-to-Market and Alliance Director at RM Technology.

Max traces his journey from studying aerospace engineering and entering technology almost by accident to building a career across marketing, managed services, alliances and go-to-market strategy. His experience includes Guardian IT, SunGard, NTT and Ingram Micro before moving into education technology with RM.

The conversation explores how selling to schools differs from selling to large enterprises. While a bank or multinational may employ specialist IT teams and measure success through commercial returns, schools must evaluate technology according to the time, money and effort it releases for education.

Max explains how classrooms are changing, why providing every pupil with a device is only part of the answer, and how RM’s educational consultants help teachers use technology effectively.

They also consider the opportunities and risks presented by AI. Adoption remains inconsistent, with concerns around online safety and plagiarism balanced by the potential to provide personalised tuition and identify where individual pupils need additional support.

Max also discusses digital poverty, device recycling and programmes that return money and refurbished technology to schools and families.

From his first Commodore Amiga to AI-assisted learning, this is a thoughtful conversation about technology, education and using commercial experience to create genuine social value.

Technology buying has moved from large, upfront purchases towards flexible, consumption-based services—but what has that change meant for customers, sales teams and the channel?

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards is joined by John Newson, VP of Alliances and Channels for EMEA at Cloudwick. Drawing on a career spanning ICL, Dell, Symantec, and a decade at AWS, John explains how cloud technology has transformed the relationship between vendors, partners and customers.

They explore why helping customers reduce their spending can actually strengthen trust and create future growth, how cloud marketplaces represent a substantial opportunity for channel partners, and why smaller specialist partners can now compete effectively with much larger organisations.

John also introduces Cloudwick and its Amorphic data and analytics platform, using a wonderfully simple LEGO analogy to explain how it helps organisations gain value from AWS services without requiring enormous technical teams.

The conversation then turns to visual communication. John reflects on the whiteboard story he and Mark developed in 2020 to explain how partners could build a profitable AWS practice—a presentation he continued using around the world for the next five years.

Finally, John speaks openly about dyslexia, the strengths of dyslexic thinking and why simplifying complex problems is a valuable business skill.

It is a thoughtful conversation about cloud, partnerships, communication and the enduring power of making complicated ideas easier to understand.

The workforce is no longer made up only of people—and that fundamentally changes the cybersecurity perimeter. Neill Burton, VP of Channels and Alliances, International Markets at KnowBe4, joins The Channel Zone Podcast to explore how AI agents are reshaping cyber risk, managed services and the way technology is bought and sold.

Drawing on a career spanning more than 40 years, Neill reflects on his journey from operating mainframe computers to senior leadership roles across the technology channel. He explains how working for both vendors and partners transformed his understanding of customer relationships—and why trust, integrity and genuine intent matter more than polished sales technique.

The conversation examines the continuing importance of human behaviour in cybersecurity, alongside the emerging risks created when organisations give AI agents access, credentials and authority. Neill also discusses KnowBe4’s evolution beyond security awareness training towards protecting a broader workforce of humans and AI.

For MSPs and MSSPs, AI presents both an opportunity and a threat. It can automate operations and help providers serve a vast market of smaller organisations, but it also lowers the barrier to entry and makes differentiation increasingly difficult. Could AI eventually move beyond operational support and become the frontline salesperson too?

This episode offers practical insight for channel leaders, partners and technology businesses considering how security, sales and customer relationships may change as digital workforces expand.

Watch or listen to hear Neill’s candid perspective on the next iteration of the technology channel.

Marketing has more data, technology and automation than ever before—but behind every signal, click and digital breadcrumb, there is still a human being.

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards is joined by Tony Larks, founder of M7G Consulting and a technology marketing veteran with more than 35 years of experience.

Tony reflects on his journey from reluctant salesperson to sales-focused marketer, explaining how B2B marketing has evolved from mailshots and fax machines into a world of real-time intent data, marketing automation and artificial intelligence. He explores the challenge of distinguishing customers who are ready to buy today from the much larger audience who may buy in the future.

They also discuss one of technology marketing’s most persistent problems: businesses that communicate from the inside out, concentrating on their products rather than the issues their customers need to solve. Tony explains why effective positioning starts with the buyer, why different audiences require different messages and why every part of an organisation must ultimately tell a consistent story.

The conversation then turns to AI—what Tony describes as the most significant technological change of his career. He shares practical examples of using AI to monitor markets, research accounts, analyse sentiment and uncover intelligence that would previously have required entire teams of researchers.

Finally, Tony discusses his voluntary work as a community first responder, where presence, communication and empathy can be every bit as important as clinical knowledge.

A wide-ranging conversation about marketing, AI, human connection and creating work that genuinely matters.

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards is joined by Guy March, Vice President of EMEA Channels at Tenable, for a wide-ranging conversation about relationships, cybersecurity and the changing role of the channel.

Guy explains why the strongest professional relationships are often forged during difficult moments—not simply while celebrating successful deals—and why responsiveness, credibility and doing what you promise remain fundamental to building trust.

The conversation explores how the channel is moving beyond traditional product resale towards services, platforms and long-term customer success. As Guy neatly puts it: customers don’t necessarily want more products—they want fewer problems. Mark and Guy also discuss the rapid adoption of AI, the new security exposures it creates and the growing importance of automation and agentic workflows.

Guy shares his perspective on how cybersecurity partners can remain relevant by embracing platforms, developing new AI capabilities and helping customers turn increasingly complex technology into practical business outcomes. They also examine the rise of cloud marketplaces, including AWS Marketplace, and why a simpler procurement process does not remove the need for partners to provide expertise, deployment services and ongoing customer value.

Along the way, Guy looks back on joining Tenable just as the UK entered lockdown, his first job picking fruit, the records he bought with his wages and one of his favourite events in the technology-channel calendar.

How do you transform a 50-year-old technology company without losing the qualities that made it successful? In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards speaks with Russell Brown, CEO of SCC UK, about simplifying a complex organisation, accelerating its move into high-value services and preparing customers for the next era of enterprise technology.

Russell explains why simplification is not about reducing SCC’s capabilities, but making them easier for customers and colleagues to access—with clearer ownership, fewer handoffs and decisions made closer to the customer. The conversation also explores Project Sirius, SCC’s five-year AI growth programme involving an anticipated investment of £50 million to £100 million. Russell discusses why the AI conversation has moved beyond experimentation towards measurable value, safe deployment and successful adoption at scale.

They also examine AI’s impact on cybersecurity, the importance of governance and why data sovereignty means far more than simply knowing where data is stored.

Drawing on leadership experience in the UK, France and the United States—and across publicly listed, private equity-backed and family-owned businesses—Russell shares valuable lessons about culture, communication, accountability and long-term thinking.

Finally, he reflects on the leadership experience that reminded him that a CEO’s job is not to have every great idea, but to create an environment in which other people feel confident enough to contribute theirs.

In this episode of The Channel Zone Podcast, Mark Edwards speaks with Jay Epton, Senior Director for Global Resale and Distribution at Jamf.

Drawing on more than 30 years in technology—including roles at Siebel, Microsoft, Oracle, Symantec and Adobe—Jay explains how Jamf is expanding its global partner ecosystem as Apple adoption continues to grow across the enterprise. He discusses what makes a genuinely strategic distribution partner, why local language, currency and market knowledge still matter, and how Jamf is helping resellers and MSPs capture the growing opportunity around Apple device management and security.

Jay also shares his approach to making vendors easier to do business with, built around predictability, profitability and professionalism. He describes how Jamf’s Partner Experience platform is simplifying trials, deal registration, customer adoption monitoring, digital quoting and ordering—potentially reducing order-processing times from 48 hours to just four minutes.

The conversation also explores the opportunities and risks created by AI, the emerging need for AI governance on employee devices, and why MDF should be connected to measurable outcomes and a strong customer journey.

Alongside the business discussion, Jay tells a deeply personal story about growing up in the UK care system, the foster parents who transformed his life, and his decision to run his first London Marathon for the NSPCC. It is a conversation about channel growth and technological change—but also opportunity, resilience, gratitude and giving something back. Jay's Just Giving page can be found at: https://www.justgiving.com/page/jay-epton-nspcc?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL

Bill Hopkinson returns to The Channel Zone Podcast for a conversation about the forces reshaping managed technology, sales and leadership.

Now Director of Sales at Redsquid, Bill joins Mark Edwards to explore what AI actually means for businesses beyond the hype — from improving everyday productivity and customer QBRs to helping sales teams research, prepare, capture actions and maintain greater control of the sales cycle.

They also discuss the challenge of creating a consistent, high-performing sales culture while bringing together businesses through acquisition. For Bill, consistency matters: consistent measurement, consistent messaging, empowering people to solve problems rather than simply identify them, and creating genuine employee buy-in.

The conversation then turns to cybersecurity and the rapidly developing relationship between AI-powered attacks and AI-powered defence, before exploring Red Squid’s approach to sustainability, community involvement and employee ownership.

Finally, Bill explains why recognition, incentive trips and a healthy dose of competitiveness still matter in sales — and why, when it comes to building great salespeople, skill can be taught, but will is much harder to manufacture.