Who Will Replace Symantec Channel Chief? Maybe No One

During Symantec's PartnerEngage conference, held last week in Washington D.C, Symantec Chief Operating Officer Enrique Salem maintained that he and other executives are currently in the process of re-evaluating Parrish's role to determine if hiring another global channel leader is the best course of action for the company.

"What I always look at when there is change, I ask, 'Is there a more efficient way to run the organization?'" said Salem. "So my sense is, stay tuned, we'll try to come up with the most efficient way to run it and right now probably put more responsibility into the three leaders that we have around the world."

Parrish announced her resignation from Symantec earlier this month. Sources say that the former channel leader is planning to head channels for storage vendor NetApp, filling the hole left by the departure of channel chief Leonard Iventosch.

Symantec's global channel program is currently run by Randy Cochran, vice president of North American channels, as well as Jason Ellis, overseeing channels in Europe and the Middle East, and Cath Hodgson, heading channels in Asia.

Salem said that while Parrish was a "great lady," the company might require a channel model that entails more divided leadership.

"Randy as you know is really the guy who has been managing the partners directly in the Americas," said Salem. "If you look at the folks with the day to day care and feeding of the partner program itself, the partners themselves, they've worked with Randy's team here in the Americas and so I'm not 100 percent sure that the best way to structure is to do what we've been doing."

If Symantec doesn't hire a global channel chief, Salem said that the company would likely divvy up her responsibilities throughout the global channel team. For example, Salem said that Parrish ran some of the company's B2B online initiatives, but in light of the fact that the company already ran a billion dollars through its online systems, he said the company might consolidate her responsibilities into one e-commerce initiative, "instead of having yet another person do it."

"I'm looking at what's the best way to run it, and if the best way to run it is to replace her, we will. If the best thing to do is give a couple more folks some responsibility, well we've got some great folks," he said.

Salem did not stipulate a timeframe for the company to make a decision whether or not to hire a replacement, but said "I don't feel like we have a deadline."

Meanwhile, Symantec partners maintained that while Parrish would be missed, many said they weren't concerned about her impending absence. Matt Scherocman, vice president of sales and operations for Cincinnati-based PCMS, said that he had faith in the remaining channel leaders due to the fact that his company more often worked with Cochran and their local channel reps.

"(Parrish) did a fantastic job, she left a very good team behind her," said Matt Scherocman, vice president of sales and operations for Cincinnati-based PCMS. "It's been fun to interact with her but she's been at Symantec/Veritas for a while. They still have the powerful core of what Randy's doing, and that core's still there."

Other partners said that Parrish's departure would have little to no effect on their business.

"I wasn't even aware of (Parrish's resignation) to be honest," said Andrew Grose, president and CEO of Nortec, based in Falls Church, Va. "Our relationships are street level relationships."