The 100 People You Don’t Know But Should 2023
Across the channel’s vendors and distributors, these 100 individuals are helping craft the programs and processes to ensure their company’s partners succeed.
Putting the right resources in place for solution provider partners, beefing up programs or crafting new ones to help them succeed -- there are individuals across the industry’s vendors and distributors who make these things happen behind the scenes.
And when times get tough, investments in those kinds of channel team members become even more important in building trust with partners and keeping channel sales on track.
CRN’s 100 People You Don’t Know But Should highlights some of the channel’s best and brightest people who may not be as visible as some channel chiefs or CEOs but are just as important to the partner community.
For those who work tirelessly away from the spotlight, it’s their time to be front and center. Across the channel’s vendors and distributors, these individuals are helping craft the programs and processes to ensure their company’s partners succeed.
(By company name)
Rares Matei
Global Distribution Program Manager
Acronis
Matei took big steps to expand Acronis’ partner ecosystem by building incentive programs and business plans with dozens of cloud distributors across the globe, all with the aim of helping them boost performance, increase services consumption and attract new service providers to its platform.
Jennifer Letourneau
Global Leader, Partner Journey, Experience
Amazon Web Services
Letourneau gets the credit for bringing the voice of the partner into every meeting and program discussion, working across departments to ensure partners see value in working with AWS. She has launched five guided paths to help partners navigate AWS programs based on their business model.
John Hampton
Sr. Director, Worldwide Customer Field Support
AMD
With field support, AMD’s Global High Performance Computing Center of Excellence and worldwide commercial sales development teams under his purview, Hampton nevertheless always makes time to work with partners and customers to share his technical knowledge and help them through any roadblocks.
Dylan Bittrich
Global Systems Integrator Alliance Manager
Aqua Security
In the year-plus since Bittrich joined Aqua Security, he has already had a big impact. He is said to be ruthlessly focused on driving real outcomes for customers through the company’s global systems integrators, tapping into his own relationships and expertise to drive results faster than expected.
Nick Watkins
Manager, Partner Marketing
Arctic Wolf
Known for having a magic touch with communications, Watkins drives awareness and engagement across Arctic Wolf’s channel community to develop strategy, generate pipeline and enhance the overall partner experience. His willingness to dedicate himself to any initiative has won over fans internally and throughout the partner base.
Trent Carpenter
Field Sales Manager
Arrow Electronics
Carpenter is lauded for his deep knowledge of the distribution landscape and for constantly putting channel partners first. He has become adept at the balancing act needed to align channel partners with Arrow’s resources and capabilities, building a solid strategy both with and for its partners.
Diana Torok
Director, Channel Sales, Partnerships
Asimily
Torok’s colleagues say that she is an absolute force of nature whose energy and knowledge are a catalyst for growth. As a result, partners love working with her, and she is seen as a pivotal player in Asimily’s channel success—one who is having a demonstrable impact on partners’ business.
Hakim Williams
Lead Product Marketing Manager
AT&T
Williams works closely with key stakeholders to make sure the strategic wireline products he rolls out to the channel are impactful to partners’ business, including the development of promotions that have incentivized the channel to hop on new business fiber services opportunities with gusto.
Allan Rickhi
VP, Channels, Alliances
Augtera Networks
Network operations vendor Augtera brought Rickhi in at the beginning of 2023 to help drive adoption of its AIOps platform. He’s now building and scaling the channel and alliance ecosystem, driving revenue growth and collaborating across multiple teams to make sure the partner perspective is front and center.
Mimish Lesperance
Sr. Director, Americas Field, Channel Marketing
Barracuda
Lesperance has cultivated a reputation as a driving force of constant innovation in her quest to bring new programs to the Barracuda channel. It’s said that she lives and breathes channel and has had a strong, positive impact on solution providers and their level of engagement with the company.
Frank Suglia
VP, Technical Services
BitTitan
A 20-year industry veteran, Suglia leads the technical services division at BitTitan, where he is known for fostering trust, encouraging growth and empowering teammates. He’s seen as a problem-solver who always steps up in the face of a new challenge, making sure partners and customers get the attention they deserve.
Alessandro Raffa
Director, Value, Solution Engineering
BMC Software
Raffa created BMC’s Partner Pre-Sales Program, which supports partner pre-sales consultants by providing recommendations and best practices to ramp up their skills. It features a self-service application to define learning paths, set goals and track skills, all of which help to set channel partners up for success.
Maureen May
Program Director, Global Customer Success
Broadcom
May is a team player who often goes above and beyond the call of duty to help support her colleagues. She’s earned kudos for introducing a survey and rating process to Broadcom’s Expert Advantage Partner Program, sharing her insight to help the team avoid pitfalls and ensure success.
Caroline Wells
Channel Account Manager
Cato Networks
Wells joined Cato’s channel team over a year ago, seamlessly transitioning into her new role and jumping at the chance to collaborate closely with partners and her peers. She has become a go-to resource for ideas on how to enhance processes and use innovative tools for channel success.
Ken Seitz
Sr. Director, Partner Managed, XaaS Sales
Cisco Systems
Seitz developed Cisco’s first catalog of offerings partners could use to build managed services, which is said to have redefined the way the company works with its product management and sales teams. He also leads the team that evolved Cisco’s field compensation models and other elements key to its managed services efforts.
Ash DSouza
Global Head of Partner Operations, Strategy, Partner Programs
Cloudflare Area 1 Security
Over the past four-plus years, DSouza’s strong analytical skills, incredible work ethic and unerring ability to get things done have impressed colleagues and partners alike as he strove to drive Cloudflare’s channel strategy, build up its partner programs and scale its channel ecosystem.
Steven Gangaram
Director, Partner Program Management
Comcast Business and Masergy
Gangaram is at the helm of numerous projects, including building out an 18-city road show in 2022, that are credited with boosting partner engagement and building sales opportunities. The combination of his capabilities, positive approach and tendency to hit his yearly goals make him a well-regarded team member.
Kipp Stumpf
IT Nation Program Manager
ConnectWise
Stumpf is laser-focused on adding structure to ConnectWise’s role-based peer groups. One of his recent endeavors includes taking steps to measure program effectiveness and develop a robust feedback loop to ensure partner voices are heard and incorporated into future planning.
Armand Boudreau
Director, Global Alliance Programs, Readiness
CrowdStrike
Boudreau oversees partner programs, incentives and readiness, leading a high-performing team that is on a mission to empower CrowdStrike partners. He played a key role in the recent launch of the service provider program, which included a new go-to-market framework that aimed to enhance partner profitability.
Jared Venson
Partner Marketing Manager
CyberQP (formerly QuickPass Cybersecurity)
Venson earns kudos by working behind the scenes to build connections between CyberQP and its partners. With a hand in nearly all the content the company produces, he is said to take great pride in helping solution providers with carefully crafted marketing messages.
Shashi Nair
Partner Manager, North America
Cyware Labs
As Cyware made the move to adopt a channel-first philosophy, Nair tapped into his deep channel roots and strong cybersecurity background to build Cyware One, the company’s new channel program. He also drives channel strategy and operations, making it his mission to recruit and grow strategic partners.
Adam Crockett
Sr. Director, Professional Services, Modern Solututions Business Unit
D&H Distributing
In less than two years at D&H, Crockett has already had a big impact on the development and execution of the distributor’s professional services practice. The team has grown dramatically under his leadership as it worked to introduce new white-label options such as Help-Desk- and Security-as-a-Service offerings.
Brett Fountain
Director, AWS Partnership
Deepwatch
Fountain is laser-focused on his directive to nurture and grow Deepwatch’s partnership with AWS. In working toward that goal, he has cultivated a reputation for being a motivated, reliable teammate whose honesty, confidence, charisma and communication skills are keeping the relationship strong.
Dean Hill
As-A-Service Channel Strategy Lead
Dell Technologies
Hill drives operational, programmatic and technical readiness and played a key role in the design of Dell’s Apex as-a-service strategy. He made sure channel considerations were incorporated from the get-go and was instrumental in establishing the structure and governance for managing the new Apex offerings.
Moran Habani
Director, Business Development
Dig Security
Habani began her security career in the famed 8200 intelligence unit of the Israeli Defense Forces. Now at Dig Security, she’s turning heads for the work she’s done to rapidly grow the business by building strong relationships and positioning the company as a preferred partner in a competitive market landscape.
Jeff Kennedy
Director, Sales, Partner Enable-ment Distributed Infrastructure
Eaton
In the wake of Eaton’s acquisition of Tripp Lite in 2021, Kennedy has stepped in to develop new programs and processes to help streamline business with partners. He has also added new software and support teams to create efficiencies, taking a personal interest in ensuring solution providers have the support they need.
Vincent Gatti
Global Business Development Manager
eSentire
Gatti is responsible for driving and expanding eSentire’s partnerships with Technology Service Brokers, a route to market that impacts 12,000 partners globally. He also has a keen sense for training and coaching partner sales teams. Over the last year his team developed over $43 million in pipeline.
Cameron Tousley
Director, MSP Channels
ESET
Tousley is a champion for MSPs at ESET North America, recruiting new partners, managing the largest MSP accounts and collaborating with the ESET team on ways to strengthen the company’s global program. He is viewed as a go-to resource that is able to clearly articulate market trends and partner business needs.
Nick Wolf
Director, Partner Acquisition
Evo Security
In less than a year, Wolf has grown Evo Security’s MSP ranks to 150 partners—up from 30 partners—in January, and he has aspirations of hitting 300 by year’s end. Helping to drive that growth are recently inked partnerships with ConnectWise and Solutions Granted.
David Yang
Sr. Director, Support, Service
Exclusive Networks
Yang, a former Employee of the Year, drives Exclusive’s support and services efforts, including leading and developing the company’s sales engineer and professional services teams. He’s also often knee-deep in security market research as he hunts for new companies to enhance the distributor’s portfolio.
Anais Dupont
Global Partner Programs Manager
Extreme Networks
Dupont is the rock star in charge of Extreme’s MDF program, distributing budgets, working elbow-deep in the company’s program management tool and making sure that every request gets reviewed and every question gets answered—all to make sure partners receive the funds they’ve earned.
Paul Alleluia
U.S. MSSP Sales Director
Fortinet
Alleluia is lauded for bringing a combination of experience, leadership and vision to the table. In his role driving Fortinet’s MSSP sales team in the U.S., he gets a lot of credit for playing a critical part in the daily success of the company’s managed services partners.
Staci Corbett
Sr. Channel Marketing Manager
Fusion Connect
Described as a channel force to be reckoned with, Corbett has developed and manages the channel marketing strategy at cloud services provider Fusion Connect. This includes building out the company’s events strategy, partner newsletter and tools to support sales campaigns.
Mo Guerrero
CEM
GlassHive
GlassHive is taking the channel by storm with its MSP-targeted sales and marketing platform, and it’s Guerrero who’s helping build the company’s reputation for partner-first, white-glove service. He’s working hard to keep customers happy and win over new ones.
Kyla Hunts
Head of Partner Services Center of Excellence
Google Cloud
Hunts leads delivery enablement programs for partners, with her team focused on evolving Google Cloud’s strategy, readiness and quality. She’s leaving her mark on many of the company’s recent channel efforts, including its Partner Success Services and Delivery Readiness Index programs.
Patrick Winters
Director, Channel Sales
Hammerspace
Known for his insight and win-win approach to partnership, Winters is working hand in hand with Hammerspace partners to forge a path to success that sees him tailor a plan to each partner’s strengths. He has developed channel enablement and marketing programs to bring new partners up to speed.
Justin Crane
Director, North America Partner Programs, Transformation
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Crane scoffs in the face of headwinds, refusing to let factors such as supply chain challenges disrupt the high-level partner experience he strives to provide. He focuses on ensuring that HPE’s partner programs are finely tuned and efficiently managed every day, motivating partners to reach their goals.
Brian Mavigliano
Director, Service Delivery
High Wire Networks
Colleagues describe Mavigliano as one of their hardest working and most helpful peers. It’s no wonder, since he’s the one bridging the gap between the company’s sales team and it’s around-the-clock network and cybersecurity operations, listening to partners’ concerns and addressing them.
David Landew
Director, Global Patner Program Office
Hitachi Vantara
Year after year, Landew has seen his role expand, and year after year he meets that rising challenge. He is seen as an expert in Hitachi Vantara’s portfolio and the value of the company’s partner ecosystem who will stop at nothing to help the company and its partners succeed.
Isabella Phoenix
Director, Global Channel Sustainability
HP Inc.
Through her passion and expertise, Phoenix from scratch built out the HP Amplify Impact program, which—since launching in 2021—is now helping over 3,500 partners tackle sustainability, human rights and digital equity with resources and training. Now she’s driving the program’s global expansion.
Ken Adams
Sr. Channel Marketing Manager
HPE Aruba Networking
Adams is lauded by teammates for fully embodying HPE Aruba’s philosophy of “customer first, customer last,” taking pride in working to truly understand partners’ requirements and bringing a palpable channel commitment to everything he does.
Kellie Luth
Manager, Channel Account Management
Huntress Labs
Luth is known for putting Huntress Labs’ channel partners’ goals front and center and always spending the time to find an additional resource or put in the extra effort needed—without hesitation—to make sure any issues are quickly put to bed.
Grace Donald
Channel Account Manager
HYCU
Donald has impressed her HYCU colleagues with her tireless energy, enthusiasm and “stick-to-itiveness.” They say she fully embodies the company’s core values of authenticity, grit and empathy, traits she uses daily in her interactions with some of the vendor’s most strategic channel partners.
Danilo Novelli
VP, Data, AI, Automation, Ecosystem, Americas
IBM
Novelli is taking the lead when it comes to tapping solution providers to scale the footprint of IBM’s data, AI and automation software. He knows just how to drive high-level engagement with the channel so partners can develop high-growth solutions that can be replicated and scaled.
Chris Feeney
Director, Vertical Solutions, Channel Pre-Sales Engineering
IGEL
Feeney brings a unique blend of technical, strategic sales and partner relationship management experience to bear at IGEL, where he played a fundamental role in the launch of the company’s Services Specialization Program.
Kevin Lawless
Director, Customer Success, Cloud
Ingram Micro
Said to possess a deep knowledge of MSPs’ business processes and challenges, Lawless leads a team of customer success managers and support desk experts for Ingram Micro’s cloud business that ensures partners deliver a top-notch end customer experience and find ways to grow.
Andrew Marsee
GM, Partner Alliance Experience
Intel
Marsee is building the next generation of Intel Partner Alliance, where he is responsible for strategy, membership, recruiting, engagement, benefits and experience. He’s an Intel veteran with broad experience spanning sales operations, business planning, marketing and supply chain, among other areas.
Alexis Lucas
Sr. Partner Development Manager
Intermedia
With her strategic thinking and creativity in attracting new partners to Intermedia, Lucas has proven that she knows how to put partners on a growth trajectory and has helped the company increase its channel business through distribution at a triple-digit growth rate over the past three years.
Arthur Dreux
Global Partner Sales Engagement Manager
Juniper Networks
Dreux develops resources and programs to accelerate pipeline development for partners, winning accolades for projects such as his work on the Channel Sales Development Representative curriculum, which allows prospecting resources at partner organizations to quickly create high-quality leads.
Tanya Kerr
Head of Marketing
Kaspersky Lab
In addition to her strong background in business development and channel marketing, Kerr is making her mark at Kaspersky by recruiting creative marketing talent to grow the channel business. She’s bringing in like-minded teammates who share her strong work ethic and passion for partners.
Troy Wright
VP, Global Partners
LaunchDarkly
Wright is now leveraging his channel roots at DevOps startup LaunchDarkly, where he’s focusing on integrating the company’s feature management software into partners’ existing DevOps and cloud migration practices. His team has already knocked down some key partner milestones that are impacting revenue.
Karen Feibel
North America VAR Route Manager
Lenovo
Feibel has been working behind the scenes bringing Lenovo’s VAR channel programs from its Intelligent Devices and Infrastructure Solutions Groups into one simplified offering. As a result of this momentous task, she had a strong hand in shaping the channel program this year, driving overall share and profitability for partners.
Carrie Grant
Head of Global Channel Operations
Logitech
Grant focuses on simplifying and removing friction within Logitech’s regional and global partner efforts, working across sales, marketing, IT, operations and the company’s partner base to improve the channel experience. She’s always willing to roll up her sleeves to help a teammate, even if the problem is outside her wheelhouse.
Courtney Sheppard
Global Partner Marketing Director
Malwarebytes
Sheppard is a mover and shaker who leads recruitment efforts and has revamped the entire Malwarebytes channel experience, which led to a 300 percent increase in registration. She has also increased the company’s engagement with partners on social media and regularly gathers partner feedback at events.
Raamel Mitchell
Global Director, Black Partner Growth Initiative
Microsoft
Peers say they are inspired by Mitchell’s work in helping lead Microsoft’s Black Partner Growth Initiative, which aims to increase Black representation in Microsoft partner communities, enable solutions through engagement with Black-owned technology firms and strengthen financial support within the partner ecosystem.
Abhinav Mehla
RVP, Global Cloud Partner GTM Programs
MongoDB
Self-described as “geeky,” Mehla’s not afraid to use some elbow grease when it comes to driving market share, building win-win partnerships, thinking creatively, planning well and getting things done. He’s also always on the lookout for new opportunities to gain wisdom.
Paz Maoz
Manager, MSP Growth Strategy
N-able
As a senior sales leader on N-able’s growth team, Maoz is 100 percent focused on helping N-able partners take their business to the next level. Colleagues say everything he does drives toward that endgame, and he tackles his MSP mission with enthusiasm and authenticity.
Misty Bannigan
Partner Success Manager
Nerdio
Bannigan has built a reputation for doing anything she can to ensure Nerdio partners succeed, including taking a high-touch approach to help them navigate any hurdles, particularly with those who are building out nascent cloud practices. It’s no wonder she earns rave reviews from partners.
Gregory Walker
Sr. Manager, Partner Incentives, Investments
NetApp
Walker is always working on new and fresh ways to reward solution providers for their investment in NetApp. A problem-solver by nature, he has an innate ability to understand NetApp partners and see things from the channel perspective as he builds out new offerings.
Andrea White
Director, Events
Nextiva
White’s No. 1 goal at Nextiva is to ensure that the national events she runs deliver the best partner experience possible. She accomplishes this through unerring attention to detail and is said to be always in motion behind the curtain making sure that those in front look good.
Dave White
Sr. Solutions Engineer
Nutanix
Colleagues at Nutanix count on White to always be at the ready for help with strategy, tactics, messaging and new ideas. He has cultivated a reputation for being the go-to source for figuring out how to get through roadblocks, sharing his technical know-how with ease and grace.
Jamie Godoy
Director, Global Channel Program Operations, GTM Strategy
Nvidia
Godoy carries responsibility for all of Nvidia’s channel dashboards and partner tools, playing an instrumental role in the company’s efforts to be easy to do business with. She gets credit for helping to fix a number of the operational challenges that previously were thorns in partners’ sides.
Candace Erickson
Channel Marketing Manager
OpenText Cybersecurity
A collaborative teammate who works hand-in-hand with the sales team, Erickson is delivering the programs partners need. She’s leading the plan and budget for the company’s Microsoft co-op program and is also working to ensure AppRiver and Webroot partners get what they need to grow with OpenText.
Tim Gordon
Sr. Director, Partner Programs, Enablement
Oracle
Gordon wins praise for helping legacy Oracle solution providers evolve into some of its most impactful cloud partners. He is said to continually ensure strategic plans and initiatives are grounded in helping partners meet their growth goals while producing successful outcomes for customers.
Avneet Dhanota
Channel Program Manager, Strategic Initiatives
Palo Alto Networks
Drawing on his six years of work supporting Palo Alto Networks’ channel team in analytics and sales operations roles, Dhanota is now putting his innovative
problem-solving skills to work as he seeks the system and policy enhancements needed for a frictionless selling experience.
Isaiah Bockelman
VP, Business Development, North America
Pax8
Bockelman wins praise for his interest in and willingness to develop the Pax8 people who support the technical skills and knowledge of its partners. The distributor now has five unique business units focused on technology categories, and he has been key to scaling those efforts.
Joe Spiller
VP, Technical Sales
Pia
Prior to joining Pia, Spiller held a high-level technical role at an MSP. Those skill sets helped him hit the ground running with immediate impact. He quickly became known as someone who helps everyone he meets and always has a positive attitude while doing it.
Rohan Batra
Global Head of Partnerships
Pigment
Enterprise performance management vendor Pigment is investing in its channel efforts and brought on Batra to drive partnerships globally. Under his leadership, his team has already made tremendous strides building pipeline. Partners now have a hand in over 50 percent of new customer wins.
Stuart Lutzenhiser
Sr. Director, Channel, Marketing Operations
Proofpoint
Lutzenhiser always looks through a partner lens when building out new company initiatives. He is described as an expert in operations, contracts, reporting and sales processes, the backbone of Proofpoint’s global channel team and a critical part of the company’s success.
Josh Felicetti
Director, Americas National Partners
Pure Storage
Felicetti drove several key improvements at Pure, such as building an optimized coverage model for national strategic partners, standardizing the go-to-market model, expanding as-a-service portfolio offerings and increasing top partner contribution by 2X.
Laurie Fontaine
Sr. Director, Global Commercial Partner Ecosystem
Red Hat
As the leader of a new partner segment, Fontaine has taken challenges head-on, including driving out conflict between partners, investing in new capabilities and leading an effort to standardize the role of Red Hat’s partner sales executives. She also led the first Partner Advisory Council.
Emmanuelle Cahane
Head of Channels, Strategic Partners, Alliances, System Integrators
Ribbon Communications
Often faced with several priorities at a time, Cahane’s north star is streamlining processes among the Ribbon team, the partner and the end user. In one example, she was able to increase the acceptance rate for opportunities with a partner by tailoring Ribbon’s approach to the individual company.
Kathy Bellamy
Sr. Director, Channel Marketing, Partner Programs, North America
RingCentral
Bellamy orchestrates much of RingCentral’s day-to-day interaction with its North American partners. She brings a deep understanding of how to utilize resources to get the best return on investment for solution providers while guiding the initiatives that help lead them to success.
Alyson Sander-Lantz
Director, Operations
Scale Computing
Sander-Lantz is well-versed in the nuances and difficulties that can arise in the supply chain for acquiring IT hardware, meaning she can act quickly in the face of surprises. She is passionate about leading teams and collaborative projects, always striving to deliver top-notch customer and partner experiences.
Liam Somers
Manager, Partner Success
ScalePad
With commitment to excellence that colleagues describe as unparalleled, Somers is known for leading ScalePad’s partner success team to deliver the best possible partner experience. He takes his duty of care toward the channel seriously and is an inspiration to teammates.
Nathalie Perchard
Sr. Director, Worldwide Field Marketing
Scality
Perchard is one of the key people who helped Scality grow the U.S. partner-led business by 28 percent in 2022, working tirelessly to deliver strong partner engagement through sales tools and enablement materials that are localized and relevant to each partner’s needs.
Amy Just-Cullinane
Strategic Marketing Manager
Schneider Electric
Just-Cullinane is a channel veteran with a trove of experience in marketing, program management and e-commerce. With that wealth of knowledge at her disposal, she manages communications to partners and played a critical role in the launch of the mySchneider Partner Program for solution providers.
Carryl Roy
Sr. Field Marketing Manager
Semperis
It’s Roy’s can-do attitude, attention to detail and ability to anticipate the needs of all parties that are enabling her quest to support over 110 partner-connected events in North America this year. At the same time she’s managing a partner newsletter and leading special projects such as webinars and the launch of a new partner portal.
Sunny Song
Director, Partner Operations
SentinelOne
Whether it’s on-boarding new partners or launching MDF tools, Song is responsible for all facets of SentinelOne’s partner operations. Her eye for detail led to the reduction of approval times to 48 hours for its deal registration program. She also launched new self-service dashboards partners can use to monitor sales targets and incentives.
Michael Khoury
Sr. Director, Partner Programs
ServiceNow
Khoury joined ServiceNow in 2021 with a directive to overhaul the partner program. He has played a major role in helping shift the culture around partners for the better and is known for his positive attitude and diligence in searching out best practices to put the company’s program on the cutting edge.
James Welburn
Product Sales Manager
Sherweb
The complexities of Microsoft’s New Commerce Experience licensing are well documented, so it’s no wonder Welburn’s expertise is in high demand among Sherweb partners. He is also a strong proponent of the distributor’s Black Partner Growth Initiative, a Microsoft-backed program Sherweb launched in July.
Hunter Haverty
Global Director, Channel Programs
Skyhigh Security
Earlier this year, Haverty led the launch of Skyhigh’s Altitude Partner program, which he built from the ground up with an intentional focus on trust and value creation. The resulting program is simple, predictable and profitable, putting partners at the center of the company’s go-to-market strategy.
Raymond Wong
Head of Partner Investment Programs, Strategy, Planning
Snowflake
Wong is the go-to expert on partner incentives at Snowflake, with responsibility for its Referral Programs, Resale Discounting, Cloud Funding and Partner Development Funding programs. Colleagues say he works tirelessly for the benefit of the company’s channel partners.
Zhanna Boguslavska
Global Channel Marketing Lead
SolarWinds
Boguslavska’s philosophy is that channel partners are the foundation of every successful organization. She’s passionate about running marketing programs for SolarWinds’ diverse partner portfolio, and that enthusiasm was on full display as she and her team launched the SolarWinds Partner Program.
Bill Horton
Director, Sales Support
SonicWall
Horton is a constant source of support for SonicWall’s channel team who thinks outside the box to resolve partner challenges to the point where he’s described by one colleague as “practically a magician.” He has a reputation for flawlessly managing chaos, ensuring orders are delivered accurately and on time.
Eric Rydberg
Director, National Channel Accounts
Sophos
Even though Rydberg never wants the spotlight, teammates can’t help but notice how he consistently seeks ways to elevate others and give them opportunities for growth, whether or not they are direct reports. He is also a staunch supporter of the Sophos Women in Tech and Women of the Channel initiatives.
Peggy Mix
Sr. Manager, Project Management
Spectrum Enterprise
Mix is seen as a shining star on Spectrum’s partner operations team, where she not only delivers but elevates the partner and customer experience. In her role leading a team of project managers, she is never afraid to jump on a call with a partner or a customer and can handle tough situations with ease.
Amit Sabharwal
GVP, Global Technical Partner Strategy
Splunk
Sabharwal is lauded for his wealth of cloud knowledge, which he is always happy to share in the name of helping partners and customers. He hosts workshops, events and advisory councils worldwide and has built up a vast ecosystem of executive relationships. Partners see him as a trusted resource.
Jeremiah Barnes
Manager, Business Intelligence, Analytics
TD Synnex
As a champion for building a data-driven company, Barnes punches far above his weight class with his ability to impact significant and strategic decisions. He leads the team that is building out an “Insight-as-a-Service” and AI engine that will eventually touch all areas of TD Synnex’s business.
Karen Mauritzen
MSSP Marketing Manager
Tenable
Mauritzen joined Tenable’s marketing team in 2022 and immediately saw a need to help the company’s Bronze partners move up to the Silver tier. The program she developed to make that happen has had a significant impact, resulting in a 250 percent increase in transactions year over year.
Ken Williams
Sr. Manager, Partner Solutions Engineering
T-Mobile
With 20 years of experience under his belt, including time spent creating training programs and outreach initiatives, Williams strives to ensure that T-Mobile partners have everything they need—particularly technical resources—to sell the right solution to the right customer at the right time.
Ebony Carrington
North America Channel Marketing Lead
Trellix
Carrington has earned praise for infusing her team with imagination and drive. Projects such as curating primary content for large, national partners encompassing their joint service offerings and building messaging with partners to drive customer engagement have established her as a trusted friend to the channel.
Joanna Amelio
Strategic Channel Marketing Manager
Trend Micro
Colleagues describe Amelio as industrious, noting her consistent support for partners behind the scenes in everything from providing them sales tools and campaigns to immediate responses to their questions about SPIFFs and the company’s deal registration portal. Partners can readily see the value she brings.
Brittany Owenby
Senior Channel Enablement Specialist
Veeam Software
Owenby has been growing in her career since joining Veeam in 2014. Now as a valued member of the Sales Acceleration team, she is focused on building quarterly learning plans with channel leadership while also supporting channel certifications. She listens to partners and turns their feedback into actionable changes.
Song Lu
Director, Channel Marketing
Vertiv
Lu drives Vertiv’s marketing efforts and manages channel programs for its Americas partners, bringing his penchant for collaboration, strong partnerships and wealth of channel knowledge to bear. He also wins kudos for his unwavering focus on growth opportunities, always on the hunt for new ways partners can succeed.
Christy Sparks
Director, Americas Partner Programs
VMware
Sparks arrived at VMware with a deep understanding of partner programs already at her disposal, but she has turned heads with her ability to bring a fresh perspective on partner advocacy. She also developed a programmatic strategy for bringing partners into the core of the commercial Americas business.
Jackie Deuchler
Channel Marketing Manager
Wasabi Technologies
Deuchler helped accelerate Wasabi’s go-to-market strategy in North America, creating in-person and virtual partner events as well as personalized campaigns for vendors. With her focus on ensuring Wasabi’s inside and field teams have everything they need, it’s little wonder she earned a promotion earlier this year.
Cathryne Rowe
Director, Partner Ecosystem, Field Marketing
WatchGuard Technologies
Priding herself on producing results that fuel profits, Rowe has a proven history developing integrated marketing programs that meet or exceed pipeline goals. Her passion for driving measurable field results and fostering collaboration have led to her classification as an invaluable asset to her team.
Carly Hoehn
Lead, Partner Marketing, North America
Zoom Video Communications
Hoehn interacts with a wide range of partners, working in tandem with Zoom’s channel account team to put together strategic marketing plans that generate new leads and pipeline. Colleagues say she always has a can-do attitude and is willing to lend a helping hand, even outside her focus area.
Katie Adams
Sr. Manager, Partner Enablement
Zscaler
Adams is always searching for new ways to enable Zscaler’s partner ecosystem to find success and has built a reputation for “leaning in” to ensure that the company is bringing high-quality content and training to solution providers, no matter how far along they are on their journey with the security vendor.