Global technology vendor N-able announced in February that Ben Lee had joined its “Head Nerds” team. This business division provides a variety of enablement resources to N-able channel partners. Lee spoke with us to share more details about his long career working with Microsoft solutions and why joining this program was the right move.
Lee’s expertise in Microsoft UCC brings collaboration to the forefront
Lee, a Microsoft certified trainer, has been named a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional and contributed to the industry book Office 365 for IT Pros. He has spent nearly his entire IT career focused on the Microsoft ecosystem. He will now bring his expertise, especially around Teams and its connections with Azure and other products in the portfolio, to N-able partners worldwide.
“Microsoft provides a very broad set of solutions, and you can sometimes find multiple ways to get to one end result,” Lee said. “N-able, too, offers partners a lot to choose from. I want to help guide our partners to what makes the most sense for them and their customers.”
Lee says he wants to “paint a clear picture” for partners who wish to capitalize on opportunities presented by the technology available to them. He sees a new wave of interest in data practices brought on by the demand for AI-enabled tools.
Head Nerds continue to deliver results five years later
The Head Nerds team that Lee joins was established five years ago to provide educational and enablement resources to N-able’s global partner base. The team develops and leads webinars, supplies online content, and works directly with partners on specific issues within their businesses.
“Honestly, when I first saw the advert, I did a bit of a double take and thought, ‘is this a real job that is actually available?’ because it just offers the opportunity to do so much,” Lee said. “We have so many opportunities to do the fundamental focus, which is on facilitating partner success.”
N-able shared the following statistics on the program in celebration of the five-year anniversary:
- 36,542 attendees have participated in insightful and interactive webinars
- 146,120 views on blog content, helping to answer key questions and solve problems for the IT community
- 373,235 views on the N-able automation cookbook, growing the automation library to over 875 scripts and automations
“The Head Nerds program has always been about more than just solving technical challenges – it’s about fostering a genuine human connection and providing personalized support to help businesses succeed,” said Marc-Andre Tanguay, manager and Head Nerd at N-able. “Looking back on the first five years, I’m proud of how far we’ve come in building a community that values the expertise and guidance we offer. We’re excited to continue to grow and evolve with our partners in the years to come.”
Lee says he is eager to interact with the N-able partner base and has, three weeks in, already enjoyed learning how deeply the company’s solutions integrate with the needs of Microsoft-focused organizations.
“I want our partners to come find us, come reach out. And bring us your problems when you do- we’re here to help you solve those,” Lee said.
N-able continues adding new ways for its partners to engage with its products and the broader technology community. Learn more about the AI-powered developer portal N-able launched this year.