Gerdy Dhondt, the Director of Channel Sales – EMEA at SolarWinds, says investing in skills development creates clear career progression for employees, boosts retention, and equips teams with the expertise needed to differentiate in a crowded market
Could you share an overview of your career path to date, highlighting the pivotal moments or achievements that have shaped your leadership within the IT channel?
My career in the IT industry spans more than 25 years, and it’s been a fascinating journey through a constantly changing landscape. I began on the systems integrator side, working with some of the largest international players, where I cut my teeth on complex projects and learned what really drives value for customers. Those early years gave me an appreciation of how solutions come together in the real world, not just as products, but as partnerships.
Next, moving into roles with IT vendors gave me the other side of the perspective, understanding how to build programmes and ecosystems that enable partners to succeed. Working across EMEA has also been pivotal. Every region has its nuances, and learning to navigate those differences has shaped the way I lead today. These experiences have instilled in me a deep respect for the partner community and a clear sense of how to balance global strategy with local needs. It’s this blend of perspectives that I believe underpins my leadership in the channel and keeps me focused on creating meaningful, long-term value for all stakeholders.
As a key channel influencer within your company, what are your primary roles and responsibilities in shaping strategy, driving engagement, and fostering growth within the partner ecosystem?
At SolarWinds, our partners are absolutely central to our success. My role therefore is about ensuring we continue to invest in our partners’ growth, equipping them with the tools, programmes, and insights they need to deliver more value to customers and build sustainable businesses.
In practice, that means I spend a lot of time listening, understanding what’s working for partners, what challenges they’re facing, and where new opportunities lie. I work closely with cross-functional teams to shape our partner strategy, so it’s fully aligned with business priorities while remaining relevant and competitive in the market. We design and refine programmes to open new opportunities, enable skills development, and simplify++ how partners engage with us.
A typical week can range from strategic planning sessions with leadership, to deep-dive reviews of partner initiatives, to meeting partners directly to hear their feedback and share ideas. I also keep an eye on emerging trends and competitive dynamics to ensure our ecosystem stays ahead of the curve. It’s a dynamic role, but always grounded in the belief that when our partners thrive, so do we.
How would you assess the current health and evolution of the IT channel, particularly within our region? What significant trends or shifts are you observing?
The channel in the Middle East is on a steady and exciting path of maturity. We’re long past the days of pure-play resellers. Today, most partners have already shifted towards delivering value-added services, and that trend is only accelerating.
Several factors are driving this change: growing customer demand for end-to-end solutions rather than individual products, the rise of hybrid and multi-cloud environments, and an increasing preference for consumption- or subscription-based models over one-off purchases. These shifts are pushing partners to invest in consulting, integration, managed services, and other offerings that help customers navigate complexity and unlock real business outcomes.
What do you see as the single biggest challenge facing the IT channel in the region today, and conversely, what is the most significant untapped opportunity for partners?
The biggest challenge facing the channel is the shortage of skilled technical talent, which makes it harder to deliver the sophisticated, hybrid solutions customers now expect. But this challenge is also an opportunity.
Customers themselves face the same skills gap, so partners who invest in building expertise can clearly differentiate themselves. Those who crack the talent and capability challenge become indispensable to their clients.
The most significant untapped opportunity lies in managed services, particularly around IT operations and security. By offering proactive, recurring services, backed by platforms like SolarWinds observability and IT management solutions, partners can move beyond reselling to become strategic advisors, creating predictable revenue streams and much deeper customer loyalty.
In your opinion, what are the most effective strategies partners can employ to drive sustainable growth and profitability in the current market, especially considering evolving customer demands?
Partners today need to evolve beyond transactional sales and focus on delivering measurable business outcomes to their customers. The most successful partners are those who invest in technical expertise, particularly in hybrid IT, cloud, and observability, and position themselves as trusted advisors. Building managed services around these capabilities creates predictable, recurring revenue while solving real customer challenges. Another smart strategy is to align closely with key industries. In the region, these could be government, energy, and finance, where customers are under pressure to modernise quickly.
Collaboration with vendors like SolarWinds also unlocks innovation and support, helping partners tailor solutions to regional priorities such as cybersecurity and compliance. Those who remain agile, customer-focused, and outcome-driven are best placed to grow sustainably.
How is the rapid advancement of AI, including Agentic AI and Generative AI, fundamentally reshaping the channel’s business models, partner opportunities, and the skill sets required for success?
This year in particular, massive government-led investments in digital transformation, cloud, and AI are fuelling rapid growth and creating huge opportunities. These investments are driving demand for smarter, more proactive IT operations, and that’s where technologies like Generative and Agentic AI are reshaping the game. AI allows partners to offer intelligent observability, automation, and faster problem resolution for complex environments, opening new revenue streams in managed services and security.
To seize these opportunities, partners need to build expertise, not just in AI technology, but also in interpreting data-driven insights and advising customers strategically. At SolarWinds, we’re supporting this shift with AI-powered platforms and partner enablement, so partners can deliver real value and keep pace with the region’s ambitious digital agenda.
Given the escalating sophistication of cyber threats, how can channel partners best position themselves to deliver comprehensive cybersecurity solutions, moving beyond traditional offerings to address emerging risks like AI evasion?
The most effective cybersecurity solutions today are proactive and comprehensive. That starts with full, continuous visibility across the IT estate, combined with automation and actionable insights to stay ahead of emerging risks, including AI-driven threats. Partners who position themselves with this mindset can move beyond reactive, traditional offerings and become trusted advisors.
By leveraging SolarWinds tools, which integrate observability with intelligent security management, partners can help customers anticipate attacks, close gaps quickly, and maintain a resilient posture. It’s this blend of foresight, breadth, and simplicity that allows partners to deliver real value and build lasting trust in a constantly evolving threat landscape.
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors and sustainability are gaining prominence. How can channel partners integrate these principles into their operations and offerings to create competitive advantages and meet evolving client expectations?
ESG is still an area where many Middle East organisations are finding their feet, which creates a valuable opening for channel partners. Working across multiple accounts, partners are well placed to bring best practices and technologies into customers’ sustainability journeys.
SolarWinds helps on the technology side by delivering efficient, scalable, IT management tools that reduce resource consumption while improving performance. By adopting sustainable practices in their own operations, and by showing clients how to achieve ESG goals through smarter IT, partners can differentiate themselves, strengthen credibility, and align with growing customer and regulatory demands for ethical and sustainable business.
The IT landscape demands continuous learning. What advice do you have for channel partners on attracting, developing, and retaining top talent, particularly in areas like AI, cloud security, and specialized industry solutions?
Continuous learning is vital, not only for staying competitive, but also for tackling several challenges at once. Investing in skills development creates clear career progression for employees, boosts retention, and equips teams with the expertise needed to differentiate in a crowded market. As the channel moves further up the value chain, having talent fluent in AI, cloud, and industry-specific solutions is no longer optional. By fostering a culture of curiosity and innovation, and encouraging certifications and vendor-led training, partners can build motivated, future-ready teams who see their employer as a place to grow and thrive over the long term.
How do you see the roles of different partner types—such as Managed Service Providers (MSPs), Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), and system integrators—evolving, and how can they best collaborate to deliver integrated solutions?
The roles of MSPs, ISVs, and system integrators are becoming more intertwined as customer needs grow more complex. MSPs are expanding into proactive, end-to-end service delivery; ISVs are driving innovation with tailored software; and system integrators are ensuring everything works seamlessly in the customer’s unique environment.
Collaboration between these players is crucial, built on openness, interoperability, and shared goals. Partners who embrace open platforms, leverage APIs, and align their expertise can create integrated, scalable solutions that deliver real outcomes. This collaborative, ecosystem approach is what customers increasingly expect, and it’s where the biggest opportunities now lie.
Drawing from your experience and looking ahead, what is your most crucial piece of advice for partners seeking long-term success and relevance in this rapidly transforming IT channel?
The best advice I can offer is to keep learning, keep evolving, and never lose sight of customer outcomes. Partners that embrace change by adopting emerging technologies, deepening their expertise, and moving beyond transactional sales will position themselves as trusted advisors rather than just suppliers.
Focus on building relationships through insight and simplicity, helping customers cut through complexity while preparing for the future. In a channel that never stands still, those who lead with curiosity and customer value at the heart of their offering will remain relevant, indispensable, and ahead of the curve.
