The Future of Communication Technology: John DeLozier of Intelisys On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up How We Connect and Communicate With Each Other
Don’t expect everyone to have the same attitude toward you or behave the way you behave; you only control your attitude and behavior outwardly.
The telephone totally revolutionized the way we could communicate with people all over the world. But then came email and took it to the next level. And then came text messaging. And then came video calls. And so on…What’s next? What’s just around the corner?
In this interview series, called ‘The Future Of Communication Technology’ we are interviewing leaders of tech or telecom companies who are helping to develop emerging communication technologies and the next generation of how we communicate and connect with each other.
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing John DeLozier, President of Intelisys.
John DeLozier is focused on leading the evolution of Intelisys’ strategy — to deliver the hardware, software, connectivity, and cloud services partners need to be successful. Prior to joining Intelisys in 2021, he served as Senior Vice President, Global Channel Sales for 8X8. Prior to that, he served in leadership positions at CenturyLink, Unify, and Virsae. He also spent nearly 20 years at Arrow System Integration, after selling the system integration company he co-founded, ACT, to Cross Telecom, which was later acquired by Arrow Electronics. In 2020, DeLozier was named Channel Influencer of the Year by Channel Partners/Channel Futures for his commitment to partners’ success in the channel. He has also been recognized as a CRN Channel Chief for the past five years and has received the Channel Partners Circle of Excellence Award.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
In 1994, as a senior in college, I started a technology company called ACT. Through this company, I was first introduced to ScanSource and worked with them often. ACT did very well, and in 2007 we sold to Cross Telecom. In 2015, I went to the supplier side and became the Global Channel Chief of CenturyLink. One day during my time with CenturyLink, I met with a company named Intelisys. That day, they were selling the company to a company in Greenville, South Carolina called ScanSource, and I was once again connected to ScanSource. I later moved to the role of Global Channel Chief for 8x8 and continued to have a great relationship with both ScanSource and Intelisys. Then, it all came full circle when I was offered the opportunity to lead Intelisys. It was like coming home for me. I grew up at ScanSource and whenever I’m in the office, it gives me chills knowing I’m now here leading the Intelisys business.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Try to never be the smartest person in the room, and if you are, I suggest you invite smarter people… or find a different room.” –Michael Dell
“Gratitude makes optimism sustainable. And if you don’t think you have anything to be grateful for, keep looking. Because you don’t just receive optimism. You can’t wait for things to be great and then be grateful for that. You’ve got to behave in a way that promotes that.” –Michael J. Fox
In my career, it reminds me that I’m grateful for the ScanSource and Intelisys team, our leadership, and all our employees. They are the very best.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There have been so many influential people throughout my life and my career. When I was first starting my career, Steve Schrimsher told me to remember the three most important things in business: 1. The People, 2. The People, and 3. The People. This has been something that has always shaped the way I think. When I first met Mike Baur, the CEO of ScanSource, early on in my career, I wanted to be just like him when I grew up. He has been impactful throughout the course of my career. Additionally, Bob Coughlin, who owned Cross Telecom and purchased my company, and Vik Verma, the former CEO during my time at 8x8. Personally, my family, and especially my mom, have been influential. I’m a music guy and she introduced me to all of it. She also told me I would be the first in my family to go to college and I believed her. In recent days, my wife, Joanna. She is the CEO of our family. I run everything by her for advice, from life in general to business.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Going back to the life lessons quotes I shared earlier, I’m an optimist, but not unrealistic. I live by the idea that whatever you do in business and every interaction in your life — whether that be speaking from the stage at a conference, networking, participating in a meeting, whatever it is — leaves residue. That residue is either inspirational and influential, or it’s not. I try to live by the golden rule. It doesn’t matter who they are or what they do for a living, everyone I interact with I want to treat kindly and leave with optimism.
Ok wonderful. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about the cutting-edge communication tech that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
We’re in the work-from-anywhere environment right now. Intelisys leads the CX community regarding how businesses do business. As a result, we’re right in the middle of this beautiful technology boom. We’re the leading technology solutions distributor, helping to deliver solutions for video communications, collaboration, and, essentially, all interactions that happen remotely.
How do you think this might change the world?
I think it already has, and the pandemic accelerated it. It was inevitable and it was coming, but the pandemic pushed it into action. One example is as simple as making a call. You no longer only expect to hear the person’s voice, you now want to see their face. Now that cutting-edge solutions have been accelerated, there’s no going back. The toothpaste is out of the tube, so to speak. It’s up to us to continue to deliver the technology and cutting-edge solutions to the world. At ScanSource and Intelisys, we’re in the driver’s seat of hybrid distribution, and we are able to provide hardware, SaaS, connectivity, and cloud all in one place.
How can you lead this technology to widespread adoption?
We are the largest technology and services distributor in our space, and our partner community is incredible and diverse. No matter how our partners go to market, we want to meet them where they are, whether they’re an agent, VAR, MSP, or carrier. We’re nothing without our partners and suppliers — they’re everything. We’ll always continue to invest in them.
One thing I always like to say is, “where there’s mystery, there’s margin.” I always encourage my team to ask the next question. You might be selling voice connection, but your customer is looking for other solutions somewhere else. If you’re not dating your customer, someone else will. Which is why I think it’s important to ask the next question and provide solutions that support your customer as their needs change and evolve.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
- “Have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”
- When working with your leaders, be less involved and more essential.
- Seek to understand, before you can be understood.
- Be aware that just because it’s different, doesn’t mean it can’t be better.
- Don’t expect everyone to have the same attitude toward you or behave the way you behave; you only control your attitude and behavior outwardly.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I have a strong passion for seeing diversity in the workplace, particularly putting women in places of influence and power in business. This goes back to the influence my mom, wife and now my daughters have in my life.
I also believe everyone wants to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Inspiration comes from motivation, and you can motivate someone negatively or positively. We don’t have enough positive, true optimistic influencers in this world and in business.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can find me on LinkedIn and Twitter. You can also find out more about ScanSource and Intelisys by visiting our websites here: www.scansource.com and intelisys.com/.
Thank you so much for the time you spent doing this interview. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success.
