Thomas Preston Email & Phone Number

North Canton, Oh, Us

North Canton, Ohio

Adjunct Professor in both the DeVille School of Business and the Computer Science Department. A dynamic and inspiring teacher with an ability to bring practical and professional experiences to the classroom. I design and deliver both virtual and classroom lectures to class sizes ranging from 5-30 students in the following courses. I leverage my professional network to provide students with an outlet for mentorship and networking by engaging outside speakers from various IT domains and businesses. Promote student success by remaining flexible in teaching styles and exhibiting a genuine enthusiasm for teaching and engaging students in the learning process. I collaborate with faculty and instructional designers to revise and create new curriculums, lesson plans, and assessments.Courses taught include:- Introduction to Data Analytics (BUS412): Explores business analytics tools and their application to management problems.- Data Analytics Practicum (BUS390): Bridges the gap between the study of analytics in the classroom and its application to solve real world problems.- Intermediate Excel (BUS350): Provides students with advanced training in Excel to help prepare them for a career in business.- Introduction to Cybersecurity (CS114): Introduces the fundamental concepts of cybersecurity, including best practices for mitigating threats.- Career Seminar I (CS298): Introductory seminar to help new computer science students navigate IT career opportunities, including engaging outside speakers.- Career Seminar II (CS498): Capstone seminar focusing on helping advanced computer science students gain valuable time with professionals within the field.

Responsible for developing the IBM Security business at Value Added Distributors throughout North America and delivering annual revenue growth across all partner tiers. This growth and development of the IBM Security ecosystem includes expansion of existing partners, recruitment of new resell partners, managed services partners, partners experienced in new routes to market such as Amazon Web Services . I am also accountable for supporting Value Added Distributors and their respective business partners in demand generation, sales progression, and skills development.

Responsible for developing the Channels ecosystem and delivering on a multi-million annual revenue commitment for IBM Security. My global team of channels sales managers develop, execute and support the go-to-market strategy for the ecosystem. A consistent global framework was implemented to align this GTM strategy with the objectives of each geography and focus our efforts on measurable outcomes, including:- Revenue targets- Sales pipeline development - Partner capacity- Sales and technical competenciesI am responsible for leading my team in:- Developing and managing global relationships with key partners to drive sell-with and sell-through pursuits- Evangelizing IBM Security products and solutions to generate awareness and demand- Creating and executing business development plans for partners and Value Added Distributors- Supporting partner business development and sales efforts that promote the creation and progression of sales pipeline- Identifying and closing gaps in partner capacity and skills- Developing and launching worldwide portfolio offerings and programs, including partner incentive programs

Global

Responsible for accelerating expansion of the IBM Security partner ecosystem and developing the respective business within key Value-Added Distributors.Led the Security Specialized Distributor Program, an exclusive program within IBM that leverages the experience of selected Security-only distributors within Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. This program accelerates expansion of the partner ecosystem by recruiting and developing from a wide set of Security firms within the VADs existing ecosystem. Over a period of 18 months these specialized distributors recruited more than 100+ new business partners into IBM Security and delivered an additional $15M in annualized revenue.Transformed the IBM Security business within our VADs by designing a business development program that aligns the VADs goals with their business partners and IBM Security. This data-driven framework blends the revenue history and IT skills of existing, non-IBM Security partners with high level strategy, product integration knowledge, and industry expertise to identify new business opportunities for the VAD and their partners. The first quarter in which this program was launched contributed to 18% quarterly revenue growth.

North Canton, Oh

In 2017 I was asked by the Security Channels Executive team to improve the global enablement and certification programs for our business partners. An executive with experience in building consensus was needed to drive the programmatic and technology changes that were needed. I listened to our partners and took immediate action to drive unparalleled change in our offerings.First, I moved all online enablement from a proprietary system to an open platform. This provided partners with easy access to the same content and learning journeys that are available to clients and IBM.Next, I created a series of sales engineering certification exams to ease the entry point for prospective resellers and authorize the firm as an IBM business partner.I also took the unique step of making all technical certification exams available as online proctored, a move designed to ease both the process and costs for partners to complete the required exams. Security was the first business unit within IBM to offer this approach.I introduced a custom online enablement program for strategic IBM Security business partners. My team and I consult with these partners to understand their skill gaps and deliver a custom plan to close these gaps.I partnered with CompTIA to deliver a dual certification based on product (QRadar) and job role (SOC Analyst). This dual certification provides the credentials for managed services partners to compete on the product and job role skills of their employees.As a result of my success in changing the enablement and certification program for Security, I was asked by the executive team within IBM’s Global Business Partner organization to lead the creation of a strategy for partner enablement across all IBM. This initiative was in addition to my role leading Security enablement. The IBM-wide strategy that we created is now being deployed across all business units.

Global

In 2016 I earned the opportunity to participate in the IBM Champions for Growth Program. This program is designed to place high performing, skilled IBM employees on full time assignments with IBM Business Partners for an agreed upon period of time. The program provides partners with the critical skills they need to drive growth and strengthen relationships.As the General Manager of Prolifics’ Security Practice, I had P&L responsibility for the entire practice, including services delivery, sales, and business development. Under my leadership we expanded the Security practice to include Data Security by expanding the analytics practice and employee skills to include security.

The IBM Security Business Unit was formed in January 2012 and I was appointed as the first Sales Engineering Executive for North America. My first responsibility was to build the entire team from a blank org chart, including managers and individual contributors. This team consisted of product specialist's and architects who develop the business by providing expertise on cybersecurity technologies and best practices to clients and business partners. Under my leadership we grew this business 3x to more than $1B. I also led the expansion of this team from 60 members in 2012 to more than 200 by mid-2016, including 18 managers and senior leaders. In 2016 IBM reorganized into a vertical market model. I was exclusively responsible for designing the vertical market model for the North America sales engineering team. I acted alone in designing the coverage and operating model, placing more than 200 people in the right role and market. This model remains in place today.

As the Business Unit Executive for the Great Northeast Region, I was responsible for delivering $1.5B in annual IBM software revenue. I led the initiative to integrate two separate regions into a single team of ~225 sales engineers. Because these teams were new to each other, I constructed the organization to maximize teaming across disciplines and territories. Under my leadership we improved the engagement model among sales engineers by 25%, increasing YoY sales close rate by 23%. I developed the Future Leaders Program to prepare next generation of sales engineering leaders. I also designed a program to improve the soft skills of the sales engineers.

Numerous technical leadership and individual contributor roles across IBM Software Group, including both North America and Global assignments. A visible leader in field enablement by contributing intellectual capital, leading a community of interest, mentoring IBM employees, and leading other collaboration initiatives. Advocated IBM software solutions to clients throughout the world and represented their interests back to product management. Keynote speaker at many high-profile events, including APAC Web Developers Conference (Bangkok), CIO Conference (Singapore), Professional Technical Leadership Exchange (Toronto) and other events throughout South America. Responsible for communicating product strategy to international press corps at many of these events.

As Manager of Consulting Services, I directed numerous technology consulting engagements for both Fortune 500 and smaller enterprises throughout Northeast Ohio. Recognized as SME in analyzing client’s business processes and developing workflow applications using Lotus Notes.

As Team Leader / Project Manager within Information Technology, I had the opportunity to manage numerous business-focused IT projects as well as oversee a technology support team. Responsible for introducing Lotus Notes and cc:Mail into the bank and deploying Soft Switch for the integration of disparate messaging applications, becoming a vital technology component for mergers and acquisitions.

Mba, Business Administration

Ba, Business Administration & Political Science

Business Analytics: From Data To Insights Online Certificate Program

Ibm Business And Industry Insight Program

Education record