Decrypting Success with Randy Johnston: How Cross-Functional Collaborations Fortify our Cybersecurity

Cyber threats constantly mutate and adapt. The essence of cybersecurity lies in defending against a multitude of threats, both known and emerging. This arises with the importance of securing networks, systems, and data assets from unauthorized access, breaches, and cyberattacks.

To achieve this, a multi-targeted approach is necessary. It involves robust access controls, encryption, intrusion detection systems, and proactive monitoring. However, it’s not just about deploying complex technologies. 

Effective cybersecurity also depends on human awareness and behavior. Prioritizing cybersecurity is not just a matter of protecting data but protecting our digital lives, businesses, and the interconnected world.

In this exclusive interview, we are honored to have a seasoned expert and visionary leader in the field who has left an unforgettable mark on cybersecurity services. 

Johnston has designed many strategies that redefined the art of channel sales, laying the groundwork for alliances that continue to shape the industry. His career has been a source of inspiration for present and future cybersecurity enthusiasts.

From his crucial roles at some of the biggest companies like IBM, Cisco, and Yubico to his engagements with Symantec and Counterpane Internet Security, our guest today is Mr. Randy T. Johnston. 

Now, without further ado, let’s gain some insights and experiences of Randy T. Johnston:

Q1: First, you’ve held roles in multiple organizations involving cross-functional collaboration. What was the core focus area where a significant gap exists in achieving the company’s vision?

Randy T. Johnston: It’s a great question and a way to kick off our interview. When a company decides that the time is right to implement its channel strategy, many things need to be considered. Otherwise, it’s already headed off track, which could be a disaster for everyone involved.

First and foremost, is this the right time, and do we have the right team, mindset, and plans to make this journey successful? For example, deciding to involve a distributor could be a game changer, but if you make that decision at the wrong time, it’s simply eroding your discounts with little return on the investment. Same with the channel strategy and sales plan. Do you have buy-in from sales if you decide to provide your channel partners with extra incentives to help you establish traction, which is a widespread practice? Finance? Do you compensate your sales account managers the same for putting opportunities through the channel versus taking them directly? All of these are essential questions, but if not appropriately addressed and with the proper buy-in, you are simply creating channel conflict within your ranks. 

Q2: As Vice President of Channel Sales, you’ve played a crucial part in sales strategies and partnerships. Were there any particular challenging sales scenarios you encountered, and how challenging was it? 

Randy T. Johnston: Sales are always tricky when the company looks at its channel partners from a one-sided perspective versus a true partnership. For example, if a company views the channel from the perspective of “what can you do for me,” the channel approach is already flawed. I have worked with a few companies whose sales methodology is exclusively channel, but they still have a direct sales mindset.

This means the sales team will identify an opportunity and bring the partner in at the last minute for fulfillment. While this may appear to be a channel-friendly model, it’s not. This behavior will do far more harm than good. By employing this sales model, the reseller partner never gets to add value to the sales scenario. Will they take the margin and new logo? Absolutely. But does it help foster a good channel strategy and develop loyalty to your brand? Not so much. 

Q3: Your experience includes working with well-known companies like IBM and Yubico. Could you share a project where you successfully partnered on identity and access management (IAM) solutions and the outcomes achieved? 

Randy T. Johnston: IAM can produce some exciting dynamics inside a company. There are internal meetings that these companies have. While it may seem that all of their upper managers are on board with the new IAM products and adaption, in the end, it’s such a paradigm shift in execution that many companies try this for a while only to have this become shelfware. 

When I was at IBM, specifically Yubico, it was paramount to get the partner engaged from the beginning of the sales cycle to ensure its success. Partners who truly pride themselves on adding value can become genuine strategic consultants versus tactical suppliers if they do this properly.  The more complex the solution, such as IAM, the more critical it is to engage the partner early on.  Working closely with your channel partner early in the sales cycle can produce indirect benefits paramount to your success. Company culture, power brokers, political overview, and budget constraints are areas where most channel partners excel. Leveraging this knowledge puts you and the partner in a very enviable position.

However, this can also be a significant challenge for some account managers because successful salespeople are inherently territorial. Loosening the grip on a strategic account and having someone you don’t know very well have account control can be a massive leap of faith for most. However, this leap was far more beneficial for everyone involved in my career than the hard crash. 

Q4: Given your extensive tenure in cybersecurity, you’ve likely seen the landscape evolve. What emerging cybersecurity trends do you find most intriguing, and how do you envision these trends impacting the strategies of channel sales and strategic partnerships in 2024?

Randy T. Johnston: In the early stages of my career, there was such a definitive line between value-added resellers and managed service providers. Historically, resellers liked the model of selling the product, recognizing the top-line revenue, and moving on to the next transaction. No more. That line is blurred to the point of being non-existent these days.

At the last major conference where I spoke, I could count on one hand the number of true VARs that did not have a service component to their portfolio. And even those companies were outsourcing their device management to “Master MSPs.”  This shift makes total sense because if I am a VAR with no service component, I need to introduce my competitor into accounts that took me so long to win each time my existing customer base wants to have their network or security devices managed. To combat this, I need to provide my customers with one-stop shopping; selling products is only a tiny portion of the overall solution. I also see the industry evolving into where the customer experience is far better. 

Customers want to leverage their existing tool sets and investments rather than rip and replace them for the next mouse trap.

Zero Trust is a great example. This is an essential part of a successful security strategy, and having a complete view of the overall landscape is vital to the success of this journey.  There are many steps and many solutions that provide a significant piece to the entire security puzzle. Each piece must fit together with the adjacent parts for the total picture to be viewed. 

Q5: How can we balance leadership responsibilities while maintaining a hands-on approach to a well-thought-out partner plan?

Randy T. Johnston: This is a great question. No matter what plan you put into place, and no matter how bought in each team member is, patience is essential at the end of the day. The channel model works if you are willing to invest time, money, and resources towards the success of your partner community.  Many companies think they have this in place but pull the plug too early and resort to a direct sales model where they feel they have more control over the outcome of the sales, especially at quarter end.

This not only sets your channel strategy back but, in most cases, erodes it to the point of being immaterial. Webster defines patience as “the capacity to accept or tolerate delay.”  Companies that expect delays and challenges but are willing to accept these as a means to the end. I will use the dictionary’s meaning again to drive home this point.  

A means to an end: an activity or process done to accomplish a goal. Often, the action itself could be more enjoyable and considered necessary. The phrase means to an end describes things that a person finds essential to suffer through to accomplish their real goals.

Be patient. Understand that the long game is what you’re playing for, and ensure you have the right people driving your channel strategy.  

Q6: As a Senior Director for IBM / Cisco Alliance, you navigated joint opportunities between two major organizations. Can you provide an example of how you facilitated collaboration between sales, marketing, and engineering teams to streamline processes and achieve mutual business goals? What are the main areas of focus for you? 

Randy T. Johnston: Having two heavyweights vie for account control was undoubtedly an exciting exercise. Looking at it from 20,000 feet, it was conceptually a win-win for both IBM and Cisco. Our target customers were the same companies, we had little cross-over competing products, and many of our existing products were integrated for a “Better Together” solution.  However, it is pretty different when you get to the field level, and it presents many exciting challenges. 

A constant communication stream between organizations made it highly successful, so everyone was kept in the loop on nearly every detail within the accounts. This was imperative in winning over the sales account teams. Building and maintaining a high level of trust was the only way it worked at the field level, and the field level was the catalyst for this success. No amount of top-down exertion would make this work. This was a grassroots effort, and it was imperative to have trust at its core. 

Q7: From your tenure at Counterpane Internet Security to your current role, you’ve consistently successfully built and expanded partner networks. Can you discuss the most valuable lesson you’ve learned regarding nurturing and growing partnerships in the changing cybersecurity landscape?

Randy T. Johnston: I love this question because when I began my channel partnerships and alliances career, I was not one that came willingly.  My career in cyber started as an account manager, and unfortunately for the early partners that I had the responsibility of managing, I was stuck in the direct sales mentality. This mentality is diametrically opposed to the mentality of a successful channel manager. Most successful account managers are all about account control and running the sales cycle from start to finish. Taking that same person and asking them to relinquish control and have little to no control of the sales cycle is a recipe for disaster for most.

Thankfully, I had a very good manager at the time who helped guide me on this career path. He provided a “light bulb moment” that I will never forget and I use this story in all of my training sessions to date.  I have had the pleasure of teaching many account managers the value of working with their channel partners, and I use my experience as bedrock.  

In short, if you can help your partners achieve their goals, whether they be personal, professional, revenue, career aspirations, etc, you will in time, achieve your goals as a by-product of their success. This takes patience, no doubt. It also takes a lot of communication between you and your partners. 

It’s so much easier said than done, believe me, but it’s the only workable solution, and most people give up before they start seeing the fruit of their labor.

It’s also critical that the partner understands what boundaries they can navigate. It is a true partnership, after all, so there are times when both parties will need to sit down and either reset expectations or find a middle ground that both can strive toward. It is business, after all, so set business goals. Then, work towards these goals. But it starts with understanding what those goals are, and there is enough synergy between your goals and mine that we can put real energy behind them.

You would be surprised how many meetings I have attended with my channel manager and the business partner where the goals have not been met because they have never been truly identified. And believe me, sometimes the goals don’t line up, and you need to move to a different partner.  Those sorts of decisions are very tough, and they only get tougher if you identify them too late. 

Q8: Joint alliances like IBM/Cisco often hinge on effective communication and shared objectives. How difficult do you find it to cultivate a culture of collaboration between the two organizations, driving the unified message of cybersecurity resilience to clients and partners alike?

Randy T. Johnston: Initially, this was an incredibly difficult assignment. For many reasons I won’t get into here but in the end, it turned out to be enormously rewarding on many levels. I had a great team and fantastic people from both sides to help propel this skyward. When you are an account manager for major corporations like the Fortune 500, many factors can come into play. If you are fortunate enough to find a handful of account managers who believe in the “better together” story and are willing to introduce their customers to this new way of thinking, you have conquered the biggest obstacle.

I was so fortunate to find both Cisco and IBM account managers who believed in this new approach and were convinced their respective customers would be the biggest benefactors that they opened the doors for many of their peers. Once a few saw the power in the collaboration, it opened the door for the many. From there, it grew to something substantial. 

Q9: The cybersecurity field is dynamic and often demanding. Can you discuss when you felt out of your comfort zone but used that experience to fuel your personal and professional growth?

Randy T. Johnston: I have worked with many startups, and I feel a little out of my comfort zone each time. Not because I personally doubt if I can fulfill the role or if I have taken on too much responsibility. It’s usually because I am so invested in the company’s success that I want to contribute significantly to their success. And immediately. Most people feel this same way when they join a new organization, so I am not unique there. However, channel sales are unique in that you are trying to motivate people who don’t directly report to you, are not part of your organization, and can easily disengage if they see something with a shorter route to success. This alone can lead to a level of discomfort. 

Over my career, there are a handful of things I have most certainly learned: 

1. A successful channel strategy can put a company on a completely new trajectory if executed correctly. Some companies can view the channel as a vital contributor, while others often see it as the “magic bullet.”  The latter view is somewhat dangerous because it doesn’t allow for much margin for error in case market conditions change or some other challenge rears its head. If there were a “magic bullet,” it would have been fired by now. 
2. Keep an open mind.  Just because one strategy was successful at one company doesn’t mean it will work every time. 
3. While you would like to think you are the smartest person in the room, you are not. Seek other’s advice and counsel. 
4. There is also no substitute for hard work.  Many people want the trophy, but only a few are willing to put in the time and effort it takes to win one. 

Q10: Who do you look up to as your mentor or role model to shape your set goals? Because, as humans, we naturally feel dismayed at certain times.

Randy T. Johnston: I have had some incredible leaders in my career. I have also, on rare occasions, experienced the other end of the leadership spectrum. I do my best to glean a little from each, whether its traits you want to duplicate or those you want to avoid.  There are a few, however, that have been incredibly instrumental in my career both professionally and personally. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for these leaders because they were unselfish in their investment in my life. They were relentless in getting the most from me. 

There was never a day I could sleepwalk or mail it in because they would not allow it. I had to be my best and bring my best every day because they knew I could do it. I love the fact that they could see things in me that I could not see myself.  To me, that epitomizes a great leader. 

Q11: Lastly, with a busy schedule, do you have time to read books? And what type of books do you enjoy reading? 

Randy T. Johnston: Unfortunately, I have more time on my hands now than I would like. But there is a book I am reading now called “Never Split the Difference” by Chris Voss that I like. I am only a quarter of the way in, but so far, it’s perfect. 

Another book specifically on leadership is David the Great by Dr. Mark Rutland. This book, in particular, I have read numerous times. In fact, these pages have been flipped so many times, the margins written in so many places, that it looks like an original Old Testament scroll.  

Thank you, Mr. Johnston, for joining us today and sharing your knowledge. We hope this interview has enlightened our audience, inspiring present and future cybersecurity enthusiasts alike.

That concludes our chit-chat. Stay vigilant, stay safe, and continue to explore cyber challenges. Goodbye!