Telesystem’s expansion of regional channel leadership—adding seasoned Regional Channel Managers across the Smoky Mountain, Midwest, and Pacific Northwest—signals a maturing channel-first strategy where trust is built through local accountability and measurable customer experience. In a market where 90%+ of revenue comes through partners, territory-dedicated enablement shortens quote-to-cash, de-risks complex multi-site deployments, and translates directly into partner velocity—reinforced by 2025 industry recognition for program excellence, technical depth, and service quality.
Channel partners don’t remember feature charts; they remember the vendors who make them look good in front of customers. That’s why Telesystem’s expansion of its regional channel leadership is more than a personnel announcement – it’s more an indication of how serious, scaled partner programs have to be built. They have to be local, accountable, and oriented around experience, and Telesystem’s three new regional channel managers fit that bill.
- Vincent Gagliardi (Smoky Mountain) brings 20 years of communications channel experience, including time at AppDirect, Windstream, Spectrum, Level 3, and XO Communications.
- Justin Jones (Midwest) leverages channel sales experience with Comcast Business and AppDirect.
- Cherishe Simmons (Pacific Northwest) has nearly two decades in the telecom channel, including 17 years at Broadvoice.
?When a provider already drives more than 90% of revenue through the channel, incremental investments must translate into partner velocity, including faster scoping, smoother quoting, cleaner deployments, and measurable CX. Telesystem’s move aligns squarely with that formula, reinforcing its “IT’s About Trust” posture with more on-the-ground coverage to coach partners, troubleshoot deals, and orchestrate post-sale outcomes. The company’s reported NPS north of 70 isn’t a coincidence; it’s what happens when enablement and execution meet in-region ownership.
“Telesystem generates over 90% of our business through the channel, and the best way to build trust with partners is to be easy to do business with,” said James Maloney, president, Telesystem. “We want to provide partners tools that make business easy, in addition to providing unmatched customer and partner experience.”
One might think of a regional strategy as the new channel enablement.
Customer complexity is local. Healthcare, public sector, multi-location retail and other vertical markets each have their own regional regulatory quirks, carrier constraints, and procurement cultures. Regional channel managers who live in and understand that context help partners minimize deal risk early on.
Partners buy outcomes, not SKUs. Blending security, SASE/SD-WAN, connectivity, UCaaS/CCaaS, and managed services into a coherent offer is easier when an regional manager can bring together the right solution architects and success managers quickly.
There there’s the speed aspect. In a crowded market, the provider that returns accurate quotes first, navigates approvals, and lands clean installs wins – it’s that simple. Territory-dedicated leadership shortens those cycles.
Telesystem’s decision to grow a coast-to-coast channel team puts these truths into practice and gives partners clearer escalation paths and faster access to expertise. That’s the difference between simply carrying another line card and building a repeatable growth engine – one rooted, as Telesystem frames it, in trust.
Edited by
Erik Linask
