Check Point Loses Channel Chief To Network General

Kevin Maloney, vice president of worldwide sales at Check Point, left the Redwood City, Calif.-based security vendor last Friday and took a new role as executive vice president of worldwide sales at Network General on July 11.

The departure marks the second executive defection for Check Point in about a month. Chief Marketing Officer Ken Fitzpatrick left the company at the beginning of June, a few months after he joined. A Check Point spokesperson said the company is seeking candidates for both positions.

Greg Hanchin, a principal at DirSec, a Denver-based security integrator and Check Point partner, said he's unfazed by the executive departures. Over the last five years, Check Point's training, sales and channel have been consistent at the local field level, regardless of the senior managment in place, he said.

In his first press interview since joining Network General, Maloney told CRN Thursday that the combination of the vendor's strong Sniffer brand, hefty research and development investments, loyal customer base and strong executive team created an opportunity that was too good to pass up.

"Check Point was good to me but this opportunity with an established brand, growth and a strong management team, I'm pretty excited about it," Maloney said.

Maloney joined Check Point in 2004, where he led the vendor's channel and distribution strategy. He previously spent 28 years with IBM "in and out of the channel" in sales positions within Big Blue's PC and data management businesses.

At Network General, Maloney replaces Jim Flatley, who previously headed sales for the company. The position has been open for several months, a spokeswoman said.

Maloney said he hopes to use his channel experience to help grow the percentage of Network General's U.S. business that goes through the channel. The San Jose, Calif.-based application and network performance analysis vendor gains about half of its U.S. revenue through the channel, with 100 percent of overseas sales going indirect, he said..

"The power of the channel is that if you give a good value proposition, which I believe we do, you can leverage the channel sales team," Maloney said.

Over the next few weeks, Maloney plans to meet with Network General's partners to get a better handle on the positives and negatives of its channel strategy and determine his goals for program.

The sales executive change comes a few months ahead of a planned product launch. Network General is preparing to launch new technology in September, he said.

Network General was formed in 2004 after McAfee sold its Sniffer network management business.

KEVIN MCLAUGHLIN contributed to this story.