Ruckus Networks Makes Cloud Strategy Guru Giordano Global Sales Chief

Ruckus Networks has made the architect of the company's fledgling cloud management strategy Bart Giordano its new global sales chief.

Giordano has been with Ruckus about three years and was formerly vice president of worldwide business development and cloud. In that position, he was responsible for Ruckus' strategic partnerships with the likes of Google, IBM and Facebook.

"His previous role was strategic, and I think Bart will help define his own role as a global head of sales, and maybe the word sales will be expanded to include innovation," said Gary Berzack, CTO and COO of eTribeca, a New York City-based solution provider that works with Ruckus.

"I think Bart has capacity to adopt a vision, to have a vision and promote it," Berzack said. "What's going to be a challenge is balancing that with the classical sales account managers who are still transactional. Bart has the capacity to see things more than a quarter or two ahead."

[Related: Ruckus Technology Guru And Former President Joins Facebook]

The appointment to the global sales leadership role comes as Giordano positions Ruckus for battle with the likes of Cisco's cloud-managed networking platform Meraki.

Ruckus about a year-and-a-half ago rolled out its Ruckus Cloud Wi-Fi solution, which grew about 75 percent in that time, prompting the company to push the solution into new geographies and double down on the channel with a new specialization program.

Last year, Giordano established Ruckus' Cloud Services practice to accelerate recurring revenue and drive efficiency across the company's SaaS portfolio. Ruckus Cloud WiFi was one of the fastest growing products through the first half of 2018, and the company says its Cloudpath software has also posted impressive growth while diversifying beyond its home in the higher education market.

As senior vice president of worldwide sales, Giordano will be responsible for Ruckus' revenue, margins and go-to-market strategies. He'll report directly to President Ian Whiting, who held the global sales chief position until being named president in July.

Whiting became Ruckus' top executive after its previous president, Dan Rabinovitsj, left. Rabinovitsj is widely credited with leading Ruckus through the lengthy process of being acquired by and integrated with Arris.

Rabinovitsj, considered a wireless and wired networking visionary, as well as a staunch channel advocate, last month landed a vice president position at social media giant Facebook.