100 People You Don't Know But Should 2018
Unsung Heroes
When it comes to building a top-notch channel strategy and making sure partners have the resources and support they need to be successful, it takes a lot of helping hands. From building in the right incentives, to rolling out training and support, to arming partners with technical resources and marketing dollars, channel-friendly technology vendors assemble strong channel management teams to make sure all of their partners’ needs are met.
While some channel executives get their fair share of recognition, not all of them do. In fact, many work tirelessly to support their partners without ever gaining the recognition of the channel at large. CRN’s “100 People You Don’t Know But Should” spotlights 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. Consider them the channel’s unsung heroes.
(By company name)
Brian Norris
Vice President of Solution Providers
128 Technology
Brian Norris is determined to rapidly grow the upstart networking software company’s partner base. Norris believes the software-defined networking vendor can grow its stable of about 25 partners by 50 percent—or perhaps even double it—over the next year.
Chris Atha
Director of Channel Business Development
8x8
Chris Atha, a seasoned sales and management professional with a deep background in onpremises and off-premises data center, networking, security and unified communications, is part of a channel team building 8x8’s UCaaS channel at warp speed.
Ben Moebes
VP of Americas Channels and Distribution
Aerohive
Ben Moebes brings Wi-Fi power player Aerohive 20 years of wireless networking experience, global sales acumen and big-time channel prowess as the company aggressively goes after markets ranging from global carriers to the enterprise to the public sector.
Andrea Tharp
Director of Americas Channels
AlienVault
Andrea Tharp is building the tools and resources to ensure partners are prepared to make the transition from managed services to managed security services. She also created the structure and the team for the security company’s Latin America initiative, which focuses almost exclusively on the channel.
Mira Ayad
Head of Incentive Programs Development and Strategy
Amazon Web Services
Mira Ayad is credited with architecting the new AWS Solution Provider Program from the ground up. In fact, she spent the past year growing the channel business threefold, increasing AWS’ indirect Consulting Partner provider business by an impressive 100 percent year over year.
Jerry Gadbois
WW Server Channel Manager, Enterprise Business Unit
AMD
After re-entering the server CPU market last year with Epyc, AMD tapped Jerry Gadbois, a company veteran, to form new alliances with OEMs, systems integrators and other kinds of partners as the semiconductor maker works to take data center market share from rival Intel.
Jonathan Calmes
VP of Business Development
Aparavi
Jonathan Calmes, a 10-plus year technology veteran, is no stranger to founding successful storage companies. For the past two years, Calmes has been helping enterprises with data retention and recovery in the cloud through Aparavi, a channel-friendly cloud newcomer.
Larry Hann
Director, Channel Digital Services
APC by Schneider Electric
Larry Hann is leading the channel charge for APC’s new cloud-based SaaS EcoStruxure IT offerings aimed at driving recurring revenue for partners. A committed channel leader, Hann provides feedback he hears from solution providers directly to the software line of business.
Chris Essex
SVP of Global Sales
AppRiver
Chris Essex joined the cloud-based cybersecurity and productivity services provider in February in a new role created to drive rapid expansion of AppRiver’s reseller channel. AppRiver is looking to scale its management solutions globally for Microsoft 365 and Office 365 productivity applications.
Ashish Parikh
VP, IoT Platforms & Solutions
Arrow Electronics
Ashish Parikh is leading the charge on Arrow Electronics’ growing Internet of Things business, which saw a major expansion at the beginning of the year when the distributor acquired eInfochips and added over 1,500 IoT solution architects, engineers and software development resources to its arsenal.
Mary Hagerson
Director, Worldwide Channels
Aruba, an HPE Company
Want channel sales operations to be streamlined? Then you want Mary Hagerson. Her deft touch with everything from simplifying processes to right-sizing inventories and product mix have helped make HPE Aruba a high-performance sales organization that partners want to work with.
Randall Porter
Vice President - AT&T Partner Exchange
AT&T
Randall Porter has been working on AT&T Partner Exchange since its inception. As of October 2017 he is now the head of it and has been helping the carrier transform its partner strategy. Porter, along with the AT&T team, helped grow Partner Exchange from five partners to more than 600.
Lauren Beliveau
Senior Marketing Associate
Barracuda MSP
A gifted writer with a flair for social media, Lauren Beliveau uses her passion for communication to educate MSPs across the industry. She is the voice behind Barracuda MSP’s @SmarterMSP Twitter account and the author of “The Smarter MSP’s Guide To Ransomware.
Audrey Agahan Sr.
Marketing Manager, Linksys Commercial Business
Belkin
As Linksys delivers on its goal of arming its partners with enterprise-level networking technology at SMB price points, Audrey Agahan has been serving in a pivotal role by managing all marketing, VAR shows, webinars and more related to the channel.
Jeff Bruce
Senior Director, Americas Channels
BlackBerry
Channel partners have played a crucial role in BlackBerry’s transformation from a device maker to a company focused on software and security. Looking to take BlackBerry’s channel efforts to the next level is Jeff Bruce, who oversees partnerships with solution providers and distributors.
Christina Walker
Global Director, Channel Sales and Programs
Blancco
Since joining Blancco in 2015 to help the company adopt an indirect sales model and launch its first global channel program, Christina Walker has continued evolving the channel program at the data erasure specialist to meet partner needs while also adding to the company’s ranks of active partners.
Osamu Tomita
Director of Business Planning
Buffalo Americas
A 10-year Buffalo Technology veteran who spent time in its Asia- Pacific and European business units before moving to his current role in April, Osamu Tomita is on the front line in the quest to sell highvalue networking and storage products that combine rock-solid technology with forward-thinking design.
John Beuchert
Vice President, Global Partner Programs, Strategy & Planning
CA Technology
As Broadcom looks to finalize its acquisition of CA, John Beuchert continues advancing an initiative to drive partner profitability, protection, differentiation and simplicity. He has led the effort to overhaul CA’s channel program with a focus on greater investments in “strategic” partners.
Melanie Holterhoff
Channel Marketing Manager
Carbon Black
In less than a year, Melanie Holterhoff has made a huge impact on Carbon Black’s drive to enable partners by spearheading marketing programs, including the go-to-market strategy for its LiveOps launch and creating standardized materials such as quick reference guides.
Michele Hayes
Sr. Director, Field & Partner Marketing
Centrify
As identity and access management vendor Centrify has worked to ramp up its channel activities, Michele Hayes has been working to accelerate the efforts with updated messaging for partners and increased investment in channel enablement.
Lisa Miller
President, Wholesale, Indirect & Alliances
CenturyLink
Lisa Miller has been driving growth and scaling CenturyLink’s channel program since being named the leader of the carrier’s indirect business unit. Under her direction, Level 3 had five years of double-digit channel revenue growth. It’s her personal mission to educate senior leadership on the importance of the channel.
John Stone
Senior Manager, Digital Experience & Analytics Americas
Cisco
John Stone has distinguished himself at Cisco as a channel-focused leader who isn’t afraid to take on big challenges and set aggressive goals. He is a “behind-the-scenes digital wizard” who’s driving Cisco’s digital customer lifecycle engagement strategy.
Christy Vega
Director of Worldwide Education Services
Citrix
Christy Vega manages the programs Citrix offers to better educate customers on its technology. That global portfolio also includes programs to support hundreds of Citrix partners qualified to offer independent instruction on behalf of the virtualization software giant.
Bob Kilbride Sr.
Director, Global Channel Sales
CloudHealth Technologies
Bob Kilbride has been busy recruiting, onboarding and enabling new partners and driving success through existing partners for the past two years with no plans of stopping. Kilbride will continue to lead CloudHealth’s channel strategy once the company’s acquisition by VMware is completed.
Lita Vernick
Director of Program Management
Comcast Business
Lita Vernick has spent nearly two decades in the telecom industry, including the last six years at Comcast. Vernick is now in charge of Comcast’s Business Solutions Provider Program for partners selling business internet, Ethernet, voice, TV and Wi-Fi solutions.
Dan Dufault
VP of Global Partner Marketing
Commvault
Dan Dufault has been instrumental in driving innovative communication and field sales and marketing campaigns targeting Commvault’s partners and customers. He prides himself on building impactful strategies that exceed revenue objectives.
Topher Barrow
Product Marketing Manager
Connectwise
Topher Barrow is a champion of strong corporate culture who evangelizes the importance of providing career growth and incentives as a foundation on which to build corporate vision. He says companies that don’t put in the effort to shape their culture end up off-track.
Ken Lienemann
Chief Revenue Officer
CoreDial
At channel-only UCaaS/CCaaS provider CoreDial, Ken Lienemann spearheads sales and partner on-boarding. He is driving training and support, as well as partner success—a role to which he brings more than two decades of experience in the software and telecom industries.
Lauren Duda
Senior Director, WW Partner Marketing and Development
Couchbase
Lauren Duda leads global marketing and development strategy for the database platform vendor. This year she worked to structure and launch Couchbase’s formal partner program and transition it to more than 150 existing partners while engaging them in joint marketing programs.
John Muscarella
Senior Director For National Sales Channels And Indirect Channels
Cox Communications
With more than a decade of channel experience under his belt, John Muscarella today is making sure that it’s easy for partners to do business with Cox Communications. Muscarella is an experienced leader with national sales expertise in both direct and indirect channels.
Louise Cooke
Director of North America Channel
Cylance
With Cylance raising $120 million in funding over the summer, Louise Cooke is playing the integral role of expanding the company’s partner base and ensuring that solution providers receive the support they need through Cylance’s subscription-based business model.
Donny Lu
Senior Solutions and Services Manager
D&H Distributing
Donny Lu is one of the dynamic new managers taking on the development of D&H’s recently launched North American Solutions and Services initiatives. He brings more than two decades of channel sales and vendor management experience to D&H.
Samantha Ciaccia
Partner Marketing Manager
Datto
Samantha Ciaccia speaks channel day and night. As partner marketing manager at Datto, she has focused on ongoing management of the program by creating partner incentives, designing demand generation programs, and on-boarding partners.
Chris Wolff
Head of OEM and IOT Partnerships
Dell EMC
Chris Wolff understands the lucrative sales impact the Internet of Things will have on Dell EMC partners as data becomes the rocket fuel of IT. That is why Wolff is striving to curate a set of IoT makers and ISVs to bring together a mature IoT channel ecosystem.
Gilbert Vendryes
Director of Partner Engagement
Docker
Gilbert Vendryes, a channel development veteran who came to Docker from VMware last year, is in charge of formulating and executing the container pioneer’s partner strategy. He oversees product launches, communications, enablement and programs, supporting an expanding base of partners.
Brandon Edling
Global Channel Training Manager
Dropbox
Good partner training is essential to the success of partner programs, and Brandon Edling wrote the book on training. He has created at least 100-plus videos and dozens of training guides. He has also helped Dropbox evaluate and adjust its global channel training programs.
Chris Gowin
Director, U.S. Channels, Southeast And Gulf Region
Eaton
With more than 10 years of experience in the electrical and power industry, Chris Gowin became Eaton’s channel leader for the Southeast and Gulf region last year, aiming to drive sales around the data center company’s advanced power management solutions.
Jeff Angus
Senior Director of Channel Sales
Eset
Jeff Angus has been spearheading Eset’s channel sales in North America for the past four years. He has experience in sales, marketing, operations and general management across the enterprise, SMB and consumer spaces, with a proven ability to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
Lisa Paquette-Nelson
Sr. Director of Extreme Capital
Extreme Networks
Lisa Paquette-Nelson put Extreme’s finger directly on the pulse of solution providers searching for new and innovative sales models. The result is Extreme Capital Solutions, a bold new way for customers to finance purchases and partners to get paid.
Stephanie Nalick
Director of NA Channel Sales
F5 Networks
Stephanie Nalick, a 20-year channel veteran joined F5 last year and works with F5’s largest channel partners as the head of its National Partner Sales Team, where she is driving the company’s growth as a software-first, multi-cloud application company.
Karen Kukoda
Sr. Director of Strategic Alliances
FireEye
As the head of FireEye’s global cyber-risk partnerships and a thought leader in her own right, Karen Kukoda is responsible for creating a new channel that has generated over $19 million in revenue and shifted the company’s strategy for engaging with customers and prospects.
Jonathan Corini
VP of Worldwide Sales
ForeScout
Jonathan Corini was promoted in July from North American channel director to global channel chief to help ForeScout grow within specific parts of EMEA and Asia-Pacific Japan and maximize its business in the financial services, retail, health-care and manufacturing verticals.
Stephan Tallent Sr.
Director, MSSP & Service Enablement
Fortinet
Stephan Tallent rolled out metered, consumption-based licensing and an entry-level tier for Fortinet’s MSSP program to make it easier for product-centric VARs suffering from margin compression in their legacy business to get into services. He also helped grow Fortinet’s MSSP operations.
Leila Arujo
Partner Manager
Leila Arujo, a longime Googler, has more than 20 years of channel experience. At Google, she has been driving partner success across multiple regions since 2014. Notably, Arujo has played a critical role in the success of Google’s Latin American partner ecosystem.
David Twohy
VP, Pointnext Sales, North America
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
HPE’s GreenLake Flex Capacity pay-per-use service is a runaway channel best-seller thanks in no small part to David Twohy. You simply won’t find anyone with a better understanding of how to drive pay-per-use sales through partners than the 20-plus year IT services veteran.
Debbie Kane
Global Partner Marketing Manager
Hitachi Vantara
Debbie Kane is charged with building and executing the go-to-market strategy for Hitachi Vantara and telling the company’s story of combining its data center infrastructure, big data and Internet of Things prowess to partners following Hitachi Ltd.’s creation of the business unit last year.
Grad Rosenbaum
Vice President And General Manager For The Americas Managed Services Business
HP Inc.
HP Inc.’s Grad Rosenbaum is squarely in the middle of one of the company’s most critical initiatives: Device as a Service. He is among the key executives driving the shift from transactional sales of PCs toward the newer subscription-oriented approach that Device as a Service offers.
Carola Cazenave
VP Global Business Partner Ecosystem Strategy & Programs
IBM
Carola Cazenave, previously responsible for supporting and growing IBM’s global network of cybersecurity partners, since the start of this year has been focused on driving Big Blue’s larger strategy of simplifying and making its partner programs more predictable and lucrative.
Matt Solomon
VP of Business Development
ID Agent
Matt Solomon was promoted in July to vice president of business development, where he leads ID Agent’s channel sales team and works closely with MSPs, channel partners and strategic partners. He also provides MSPs with a prospecting tool for their sales and marketing efforts.
Eric Jans
Channel Manager – Central & West
IGEL
Eric Jans joined IGEL last year to help the company’s partners scale their practices by demonstrating to customers the value of well-managed endpoints. He helped develop and introduce a new loyalty program and created IGEL’s sales certification program for channel partners.
Lynne Thornton
Executive Director of Ingram Micro Sales
Ingram Micro
An early advocate of the recurring revenue model and champion of “X-a-sa-Service,” Lynne Thornton has attained a near-celebrity status with many of Ingram Micro’s largest vendors and channel partners. She is responsible for overseeing Ingram Micro’s multi-billion-dollar U.S. licensing business.
John Peracchi
IoT Solutions Alliance Manager America's Sales
Intel
As the manager of Intel’s IoT Solutions Alliance, John Peracchi is playing a key role in Intel’s fast-growing Internet of Things Group by coordinating relationships between the company’s sales organization and dozens of ecosystem partners that are working on joint IoT initiatives.
Eric Roach
Global Vice President, Strategic Partner Sales
Intermedia
At Intermedia, Eric Roach has been spearheading global channel sales, leading partner recruitment and working with strategic partners. Ultimately, Roach has been helping to separate Intermedia from competitors with a stellar channel strategy and favorable economics for partners.
Bill Heisterman
SLED/ FED Channel Manager
Ivanti
As the executive spearheading the public sector business at IT asset management software firm Ivanti, Bill Heisterman has been the catalyst for growth in managing government and education programs within Ivanti’s channel sales arm and supporting its partnership with CDW-G.
Siddarth Bijlani
Director of Channel Marketing, Channel Capacity
Juniper Networks
Siddarth Bijlani is an aggressive sales driver with a keen eye for optimizing channel operations and on-boarding new partners. After more than 13 years at Cisco, he joined Juniper last December to take ownership of key programs and initiatives.
Cecilia Lessard
Senior Director, NA Distribution, MSP, and Channel Sales Operations
Kaspersky Lab
Cecilia Lessard has been an important voice for partners at Kaspersky Lab, where she established a new Partner Advisory Council to get partner feedback on go-to-market and communications matters. Lessard has also played a big role in the recruitment and management of MSP partners.
Stefan Bockhop
Executive Director, Data Center Group Channel, NA
Lenovo
Stefan Bockhop, a 14-year Lenovo channel sales veteran, is shaking up the server, storage and hyper-converged space this year by enabling partners with new technology differentiation as well as creating new channel initiatives around artificial intelligence and the SMB market.
Sean Endicott
Director, North America Channel Sales
Lexmark
Sean Endicott has one focus, which is to make sure that Lexmark is positioned to win by providing the right products, solutions, tools, education and motivation to the company’s partners. With 15 years in the business, Endicott’s mission is to drive profitable sales growth via the channel.
Amy Spyksma
Director of Partner Sales
LightEdge
Amy Spyksma has been spearheading efforts to expand the cloud and co-location provider’s partner ecosystem. LightEdge offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions developed in conjunction with technology partners and backed by its own consulting arm.
Sarah Terry
Manager, Product Management
LogicMonitor
Sarah Terry is the perfect example of a product manager who does it all, from identifying opportunities to developing strategies and implementation. She brings with her a strong understanding of customer challenges and the ability to develop complete plans for specific audiences.
Catherine Sauber
Sr. Manager, Global Demand Generation - Channel Marketing
Malwarebytes
Catherine Sauber helped drive double-digit growth in Malwarebytes’ channel sales and a 59 percent increase in the number of partners on-boarded over the past year. She has also helped support the single integrated endpoint agent, cloud-based management console and Anomaly Detection Engine.
Vittorio Viarengo
VP of Marketing, Cloud Business Unit
McAfee
Vittorio Viarengo joined McAfee at the start of the year as part of the Skyhigh Networks acquisition. He is responsible for all aspects of marketing for the cloud business unit, including product marketing, demand generation, events, social, marketing operations and technical partnerships.
Charlotte Yarkoni
Corporate Vice President, Azure Growth and Ecosystems
Microsoft
In her role inside Microsoft’s surging Azure business, Charlotte Yarkoni is working to drive cloud adoption in tandem with ISVs and other partners. A key focus is on expanding the Azure Marketplace, which attracts 2 million unique visitors and 150 new offers created by partners every month.
Julian Martin
VP of Global Channels and Operations
Mimecast
At email security specialist Mimecast, Julian Martin has been a key figure in product marketing, partner strategy and channel marketing. His efforts are helping to support Mimecast’s launch this year of its first global partner program, focused on deepening ties with the most committed partners.
Monica Winders
Worldwide Channels Marketing Services Manager
NetApp
Monica Winders has had years of experience developing and executing channel-focused marketing programs and business strategies. Her strengths as a high-energy results-driven client relationship guru make her the right marketing executive at the right time for NetApp.
Dustin Grosse
Chief Marketing Officer
Nintex
A fast-growing provider of workflow automation software—and a prominent Microsoft technology partner—Nintex is looking to take its growth to the next level with the August hiring of Dustin Grosse, previously the CEO of sales engagement platform vendor ClearSlide.
Wayne Johnson
Regional Vice President of Channel Sales
OPAQ
Wayne Johnson joined OPAQ a year ago to spearhead OPAQ’s Midwest channel efforts. OPAQ has since launched a partner-exclusive sales model, tasking as many as 30 regionally focused solution providers with provisioning, monitoring, managing and deploying OPAQ’s cloud-based security offering.
Frank Xiong
Group VP of Blockchain Product Development
Oracle
Frank Xiong is leading development of Oracle’s blockchain platform, which enables channel partners to create their own blockchain networks for customers. The Oracle Autonomous Blockchain Cloud Service allows network operators to decide how to bill the enterprises they on-board.
David Wigglesworth
Chief Revenue Officer
OVH US
Joining OVH as chief revenue officer, David Wigglesworth is now leading the company’s first partner program, which targets resellers, systems integrators and MSPs. Under Wigglesworth’s direction, OVH expects the channel to drive 60 percent of its revenue in 2019.
Craig Donovan
VP of Partner Solutions
Pax8
Craig Donovan is in the hot seat when it comes to gathering feedback directly from partners and ushering those ideas to Pax8’s engineering team. He made sure the partner voice was heard throughout the development of the recent integrations the cloud distributor introduced for professional services automation platforms.
Tyler Kee
Cloud Solutions Architect
PlanetOne
Tyler Kee understands that the difference between hype and opportunity is giving partners the gift of clarity. Since joining PlanetOne in April, Kee has been in the field and on the phone helping partners and providers make sense and make money with cloud solutions.
Meg Brennan
Director of Partner Program Operations
Riverbed Technology
Meg Brennan’s 20 years of marketing and o p e r a t i o n s expertise—including strategic design, execution and analysis of sales and channel programs—make her an integral part of Riverbed’s transformation into a software-first firm. Her efforts are resulting in increased visibility as Riverbed forges into new markets.
Jeff Duchesne
Global Channel Programs & Event Manager
RSA Security
Jeff Duchesne joined RSA Security two years ago and is responsible for developing, implementing, measuring and supporting its online and offline channel marketing programs and campaigns. He he has jumped into planning and managing partner conferences and advisory boards.
Jennifer Judy
Senior Manager, Global Channel Enablement and Training
Ruckus Wireless
Jennifer Judy has been helping to lead the charge on bringing new resources and tools to Ruckus channel partners. Her contributions have included designing a partner program education compliance track with pre-sales, sales and technical portfolio training along with vertical sales courses.
J.C. Collins
SVP, COO of Industries & Partners
Salesforce
Earlier this year, J.C. Collins, who previously oversaw the CRM leader’s development of partner strategy, took charge of directly running programs, operations and enablement within Salesforce’s channel as well. He’s working on baking partners into every aspect of the company’s industry strategy.
Scott Mann
Director of North American Channel
Scale Computing
Scott Mann is central to the new partner program that Scale is using to aggressively drive midmarket sales of its hyper-converged infrastructure solutions. Under Mann, Scale developed a program that arms solution providers with flexible pricing models and reduced customer capital expenditure.
Michael Brady
GTM Alliances and Channels Director, Commercial North America
ServiceNow
A highly competitive and driven sales leader, Michael Brady is unapologetic about his work ethic, which he describes as “intense.” Known as a team player, he consistently overperforms when it comes to delivering profit margins and business growth.
Stefanie Hammond
Senior Channel Sales Specialist
SolarWinds MSP
Stephanie Hammond worked behind the scenes for nearly 15 years educating and training channel partners in the art of managed services. She recently began hosting the SolarWinds MSP TechPod podcast series and is now running her own conference sessions.
John Mullenn
General Manager of State, Local and Education, Business Development
SonicWall
John Mullen brought 18 years of experience providing technology to the higher education, K-12, and state and local government markets to the table when appointed to his role at SonicWall in April. He has been working to protect these vulnerable and highly sought-after targets.
Regina Vignone
Director of Sales, Channel East
Sophos
Regina Vignone is building business plans that encompass renewals, next-generation security offerings, and marketing plans to help partners differentiate themselves. She is also educating and supporting partners through certifications and training that will provide them the tools they need to be successful.
Michelle Kadlacek
VP, Enterprise Channel Partner Sales
Spectrum Partner Program
After a promotion in February, Michelle Kadlacek is laser-focused on driving year-over-year revenue growth for Spectrum Enterprise’s channel business, making the telco an easier company for partners to work with and ensuring that solution providers are ready to roll with Spectrum’s latest services.
Chessie Huber
Strategic Business Development Manager
Star2Star Communications
Chessie Huber brings experience, confidence, finely honed relationship-building skills and a creative mind-set to managing sales teams across the country. Star2Star’s strong channel program served as the blueprint when the company merged with European UCaaS provider Blueface.
Zachary Yarnes
VP of Sales Operations
Storagecraft
Zachary Yarnes has been with StorageCraft for under two years, but in that time drew on 15 years of behind-the-scenes experience in designing and refining channel programs to lead his team to create StorageCraft’s Partner Success Program and drive a recent significant restructuring of the program.
Marcus Sylva
GM, Strategic and Channel Sales
Supermicro
Marcus Sylva has kept the channel sales engine roaring at Supermicro for nearly a decade as the company continues to push the boundaries of high-performance computing. Sylva helped cultivate an industry-leading server provider in the distribution channel and to OEM accounts worldwide.
Kevin Haley
Director, Product Management for Security Response
Symantec
Kevin Haley ensures the security intelligence gathered from Symantec’s Global Intelligence Network is actionable for customers. He has also been tasked with incorporating the security content into Symantec’s enterprise and consumer product lines.
Nicole Kayse
IoT & Cloud Business Development Representative
Synnex
Nicole Kayse, a key part of the CloudSolv team that develops cloud-based and cloud-hosted solutions for partners, has brought the distributor’s leading-edge cloud business solutions to partners for the last two years and early this year took on responsibility for its IoT business.
Alex Ryals
VP, Security, Networking
Tech Data
Alex Ryals spent nearly two years at Avnet Technology Solutions building new solution practices with an emphasis on security. After Tech Data acquired Avnet TS, that experience was key as Ryals became a leader in Tech Data’s security and networking business.
Charles Patsios
Director of Channel Marketing
Thycotic Software
Charles Patsios excels at merging channel, field and digital marketing programs to help build the awareness and enablement needed to drive revenue through partners. He has also helped convert the advancement of Thycotic’s channel strategy into a competitive advantage, with partners reaping the benefits.
Michelle Wang
Director of Marketing, U.S. Channel
Tripp Lite
Michelle Wang helped propel Tripp Lite’s U.S. channel to a record year in 2017 thanks to her efforts to maximize the visibility of the company’s products in search results as well as its brand on partner sites and systems. She’s also raising partner awareness of the company’s lucrative deal registration program.
Adee McAninch
Sr. Director, Channel & Alliance Marketing
Veeam Software
Adee McAninch leads teams that help Veeam’s partners better engage prospective customers. Her responsibilities include recruiting partners throughout the Americas and developing programs and marketing plans that enable them to scale their data management and protection practices.
Lori Bonenfant
Director of Channel Marketing
Verizon
Lori Bonenfant has spent nearly two decades at Verizon, meaning she’s been there since day one of its partner program. Today, she successfully manages a team of marketing managers responsible for supporting and leading marketing initiatives for Verizon’s IP voice products and services.
Alison Webb
Director, Channel Marketing
Vertiv
After joining Vertiv this summer, Alison Webb is already bringing her 10 years of channel experience and her passion for digital transformation to bear as the power management vendor continues its drive to expand its portfolio of edge-focused products.
Marya Munir Sr.
Director, Channel Marketing
Vipre Security
After joining Vipre Security last year, Marya Munir has played an integral role in building the company’s new partner program, which has included the implementation of a partner recruitment strategy that resulted in Vipre tripling its partner applications in 2017.
Ajay Patel
SVP/GM of Cloud Provider Software
VMware
Ajay Patel is leading VMware’s MSP charge of providing new types of cloud services to customers. With decades of software expertise, he is helping partners respond to a multi-cloud world by arming them with management, security and compliance services across multiple cloud platforms.
Joseph Mileo
Vice President, Alliance Channel Development and Service Provider Sales
vXchnge
With 30 years of sales and channel leadership expertise, Joseph Mileo is enhancing the data center services company’s channel development and service provider strategy. He was critical in crafting and launching vXchnge’s first partner program this year.
Marty Falaro
Vice President of Sales & Alliances
Wasabi Technologies
Marty Falaro came to Wasabi last year to craft partner strategy and develop a channel program for the startup looking to simplify and standardize cloud storage. Falaro, a veteran of startups and tech giants, seeks alliances with MSPs looking to save on storage costs while maintaining high availability.
Himanshu Verma
Director of Product Management
Watchguard
Himanshu Verma has helped WatchGuard define its growth strategy, product line direction, and product vision for widely deployable, enterprisegrade security offerings that can be consumed by small to midsize organizations and distributed enterprises alike.
David Dufour
VP of Engineering and Cybersecurity
Webroot
David Dufour leads a global team of 150 engineers, analysts and reverse engineers focused on building the next generation of automated security tools. He is focused on delivering cutting-edge artificial intelligence and machine-learning offerings.
Curt Allen
SVP of Channel
Windstream
Curt Allen has set the bar high for the carrier’s channel strategy— he wants partners to take on 35 percent of all new orders. Allen is in the trenches with partners, helping these solution providers understand emerging opportunities around technologies like SD-WAN, UCaaS and IoT.
Charlene Fischer
Vice President, US Channel Sales
Xerox
Charlene Fischer continues to outperform the competition by building dynamic internal groups, managing and cultivating business partner relationships and training her teams. With those skills, Fischer has amassed a proven record of transforming sales organizations.