CRN Channel Madness: Round 1 Winners And Losers
Movin' On Up
After 50,000 votes, the field of 32 has been cut in half as Round 1 of the first-ever CRN Channel Madness Tournament of Chiefs has ended.
Some chiefs jumped out to early leads and never looked back. Others, who had been trailing through the week, roared back to earn a trip to the next round.
Here, we present the winners and losers of Round 1 of the CRN Channel Madness Tournament of Chiefs. Find out whether your favorite is moving on to Round 2 or is one and done in the inaugural tournament.
Infrastructure -- Round 1
Bruce Klein, Cisco vs. Jim Ritchings, F5 Networks
Jim Ritchings, senior vice president of worldwide channels at F5, jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Despite the backing of a giant partner-base, Bruce Klein, senior vice president of Cisco's worldwide partner organization, trailed Ritchings throughout the first round.
Ritchings is moving on to Round 2 after winning 59 percent to 41 percent.
Infrastructure -- Round 1
Shannon Sbar, APC by Schneider Electric vs. Edison Peres, Cisco
Klein wasn't the only Cisco chief in the Infrastructure region to feel the agony of defeat. Shannon Sbar, vice president, channels at APC By Schneider Electric, handily beat Cisco's worldwide channel chief 69 percent to 31 percent.
Infrastructure -- Round 1
Bob Gault, Extreme vs. Sue Barsamian, Hewlett-Packard
Things got interesting in the Infrastructure region as HP Senior Vice President of Worldwide Indirect Sales Sue Barsamian came from behind to overtake Extreme's Bob Gault.
Gault, vice president of global channels and partners, came out of the gate strong but ultimately fell to Barsamian 54 percent to 46 percent.
Infrastructure -- Round 1
Herve Tardy, Eaton vs. George Hope, SimpliVity
Round 1 in the infrastructure region ended with a faceoff of a channel stalwart vs. a hot upstart as Eaton's Herve held off SimpliVity's George Hope.
Tardy, vice president, general manager at Eaton, jumped out to an early lead and was able to hold on, beating SimpiVity's vice president of global channels 55 percent to 45 percent.
Hardware -- Round 1
Frank Vitagliano, Dell vs. Thomas Stanley, NetApp
Brackets were busted across the channel as Dell Vice President of Global Partner Strategy and Programs Frank Vitagliano could not hold off NetApp's Thomas Stanley.
In perhaps the biggest upset of Round 1, NetApp's senior vice president of global partner sales and alliances sealed a trip to Round 2 with a 62 percent to 38 percent win.
Hardware -- Round 1
Maurits Tichelman, Intel vs. Mike Valentine, Sophos
Sophos Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales Mike Valentine surged through the final day of voting to a strong victory over Intel's channel chief Maurits Tichelman. While the two were neck-and-neck early on in the competition, Valentine broke away and advanced to Round 2 in the Hardware region with a 67 percent to 33 percent victory.
Hardware -- Round 1
Jos Brenkel, HP vs. Ron Gill, Ruckus
Jos Brenkel, HP's senior vice president of printing and personal systems, did not fare as well as his compatriot Sue Barsamian. Ron Gill, vice president, Americas, enterprise sales at Ruckus, turned an upset alert into a reality, beating out Brenkel 56 percent to 44 percent.
Hardware -- Round 1
Cheryl Cook, Dell vs. Gregg Ambulos, EMC
Cheryl Cook, vice president of global channel alliances at Dell, rode a strong start to a Round 1 victory in the hardware region. Cook maintained a lead throughout her entire matchup against Gregg Ambulos, senior vice president of global channel sales at EMC, closing out the contest with a 57 percent to 43 percent victory.
Cloud -- Round 1
Brooks McCorcle, AT&T vs. Frank Rauch, VMware
Despite falling behind early, Frank Rauch, vice president of VMware's Americas partner organization, rallied to overcome the president of AT&T partner solutions, Brooks McCorcle.
McCorcle led all week but Rauch refused to yield in the end, winning 52 percent to 48 percent. This one turned out to be the most heavily voted match-up of the tournament's first round.
Cloud -- Round 1
Terry Wise, Amazon vs. Justin Moore, Axcient
Despite trailing early on, Axcient CEO Justin Moore pulled ahead in the second half to clinch a victory against Terry Wise, vice president of worldwide partner ecosystem at Amazon Web Services. Moore won 54 percent to 46 percent.
Cloud -- Round 1
Craig Schlagbaum, Comcast vs. Dave O'Callaghan, VMware
Dave O'Callaghan, senior vice president of VMware's global partner organization, jumped out to an early lead and never let up. O'Callaghan took down Craig Schlagbaum, vice president of indirect channels at Comcast, 71 percent to 29 percent.
Cloud -- Round 1
Craig West, NetSuite vs. Adam Famularo, Verizon
Adam Famularo, vice president of global channels at Verizon, brought his "A" game against NetSuite's vice president of channel sales, Craig West. Despite only being at Verizon for less than a year, Famularo perhaps leaned on past channel clout to pull out a 55 percent to 45 percent victory.
Software -- Round 1
Steve Pataky, FireEye vs. Phil Sorgen, Microsoft
The Software region showcased the hardest-fought battles of Round 1, including Microsoft's Phil Sorgen squaring off with FireEye's Steve Pataky. Sorgen, vice president of Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Group, looked like a lock as he surged ahead Monday morning. But Pataky, vice president of worldwide channels and alliances at FireEye, mounted a fierce comeback in the final minutes.
When the final buzzer sounded, Sorgen squeaked out a 50.1 percent to 49.9 percent win. The Round 1 nail-bitter came down to just 9 votes.
Software -- Round 1
Marc Dupaquier, IBM vs. Mark Enzweiler, Red Hat
The battle of the Marc(k)s, pitting IBM's Marc Dupaquier against Red Hat's Mark Enzweiler, furthered the drama in the Software region. Dupaquier, IBM's general manager of global business partners, took to Twitter to rally his fans and it may have paid off. Dupaquier narrowly defeated Red Hat's senior vice president of global channel sales 51 percent to 49 percent.
Software -- Round 1
Jenni Flinders, Microsoft vs. Ron Myers, Palo Alto Networks
Microsoft's Jenni Flinders stuck to her game plan and sent Palo Alto's Ron Meyers packing. Flinders, vice president, U.S. Small and Midmarket Solutions & Partners, at Microsoft, rode the wave of an early lead to a decisive 62 percent to 38 percent victory over Palo Alto's vice president of worldwide channels.
Software -- Round 1
Tom Flink, Citrix vs. Kevin Gilroy, SAP
Citrix's Vice President of Channels Tom Flink held on to an early lead to close out the first round of the tournament with a win over SAP's channel chief, Kevin Gilroy. Gilroy, senior vice president and general manager at SAP, came on strong at the end but could not overtake Flink, who established an early lead and closed it out 54 percent to 46 percent.
Solutions 16
It's time to say goodbye to Round 1 and get ready for Round 2. Voting for the Solutions 16 will being Thursday, March 26 at 10:00 AM ET.