CRN Exclusive: Intelisys Nabs Former Cloud Provider Exec As New Southwest Region Channel Manager

Master agent Intelisys, a ScanSource company, is addressing the "explosion" of partner growth in the Southwest region by adding a new member to its channel team.

Cory Reutzel has joined Intelisys as senior manager of strategic partner development, Southwest Region. Reutzel, a former regional channel manager for Peak 10 + ViaWest, will be helping Intelisys and ScanSource partners grasp more cloud opportunities, according to Intelisys.

Based in Houston, Reutzel will be supporting sales partners across Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas and will report to Eddie Acosta, director of partner sales, Southwest Region for Intelisys.

[Related: Q&A: New Regional Intelisys Channel Manager On M&A Activity, Importance Of Partner Evolution]

Reutzel's experience in data center, cloud, and telecommunications services will help Intelisys guide and support both ScanSource VARs and Intelisys' base of traditional agent sales partners looking to sell more cloud services, according to Acosta.

"One of the reasons we brought [Reutzel] on was to manage those relationships and continue to grow that territory," Acosta told CRN. "He brings a unique skill set because he actually comes from the cloud space. He's going to be able to walk partners through the process and what that business practice looks like today."

Reutzel said that his experience in the industry had taught him that many partners still aren't comfortable having cloud conversations. In past roles, Reutzel worked with helping VARs sell cloud, and with Intelisys, he'll turn his attention to telecom agent partners, too.

"I'll be helping partners have those conversations and know which questions to ask their customers, and I'll be aligning them with the right suppliers as well," he said.

Petaluma, Calif.-based Intelisys was acquired by IT distributor ScanSource in 2016 for $83.6 million, plus earn-outs. The acquisition is also opening up VARs to cloud selling opportunities they may not have had exposure to before, Reutzel said.

"Being at Intelisys now and having had past relationships with some of those VARs, I'm anxious to help VARs figure out the new revenue stream around cloud," he said.

Reutzel's position is a brand-new role for Intelisys, which is seeing explosive growth in the number of channel partners and activity in the Southwest region, Acosta said.

Partners and their end customers in these states have been recently impacted by Hurricane Harvey, which has put cloud services like disaster recovery on the top of everyone's mind, Reutzel added.

Reutzel is a 15-year veteran in the IT services industry. Before his role with Peak 10 + ViaWest, Reutzel held senior channel leadership roles with service providers Birch and Windstream.