2016 CRN Channel Madness: Round 1 Winners And Losers

On To Round 2

After more than 55,000 votes, the field of 32 has been cut in half as Round 1 of the second annual CRN Channel Madness Tournament of Chiefs has ended.

Round 1 saw several lead changes, with voting coming down to the wire in many of the matchups. While some chiefs jumped out to early leads and never looked back, others, who had been trailing through the week, roared back to punch their dance card for Round 2.

Here, we present the winners and losers of the first round. Find out whether your favorite is moving on to Round 2 or is one and done in the inaugural tournament.

Infrastructure -- Round 1

Cheryl Cook, Dell vs. Bob Gault, Extreme

Both Cheryl Cook, vice president, global channels at Dell, and Bob Gault, executive vice president, worldwide sales, services, channels at Extreme, were ready to avenge last year's tournament disappointment. Unfortunately for Cook, it was not meant to be. Gault, who trailed early after falling behind by 14 points, came roaring back in the last two days of voting to secure a 60 percent to 40 percent victory.

The 20-point win in the Infrastructure Region's first Round 1 matchup sets up a duel with Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Scott Dunsire.

Infrastructure -- Round 1

George Hope, SimpliVity vs. Scott Dunsire, Hewlett Packard Enterprise

This Round 1 Infrastructure Region matchup was an instant classic, one that saw multiple lead changes, but ultimately ended in a decisive victory. Scott Dunsire, HPE's vice president and general manager, Americas Channels, and George Hope, SimpliVity's vice president, Global Channels, both held double-digit leads throughout the contest. But it was HPE's Dunsire who proved to be the most resilient, locking down a 55 percent to 45 percent win.

The 10-point victory buys Dunsire a seat at the second round table, where he will share a Madness meal with Extreme Network's Bob Gault.

Infrastructure -- Round 1

Wendy Bahr, Cisco vs. Chris Morgan, Nutanix

Chris Morgan, Nutanix vice president, Americas Channel, Distribution, had some last-minute heroics up his sleeve as he edged Wendy Bahr Cisco senior vice president, Global Partner Organization by two points. Morgan had been trailing since voting opened Thursday but managed to turn a late surge into a 51 percent to 49 percent victory.

Coming in hot for Round 2, Morgan will look to keep the heat turned up against HPE's Kerry Bailey.

Infrastructure -- Round 1

Gregg Ambulos, EMC vs. Kerry Bailey, Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Kerry Bailey made good on his end of a Hewlett Packard Enterprise sweep, notching a 55 percent to 45 percent win over Gregg Ambulos, EMC senior vice president of global channel sales. The contest was tight throughout, with Bailey ahead by just 2 points after the weekend. However, Bailey, HPE's senior vice president, Worldwide Indirect Sales charged forward in the final day to lock down a 10-point victory. Bailey will keep things moving in a Round 2 matchup with Nutanix's Chris Morgan.

Hardware -- Round 1

Rob McKernan, APC vs. Maurits Tichelman, Intel

The Hardware Region kicked off with Maurits Tichelman, Intel vice president, general manager, Sales, punching his ticket to Round 2. Tichelman topped Rob McKernan, senior vice president, global IT channels at APC with a strong 61 percent to 31 percent victory. Tichelman suffered defeat in Round 1 of last year's tournament to the eventual champion, Sophos' Mike Valentine.

The Round 2 birth will pit Tichelman against Lenovo's Sammy Kinlaw.

Hardware -- Round 1

Sammy Kinlaw, Lenovo vs. Stephanie Dismore, HP Inc.

HP Inc.'s vice president and general manager, U.S. channels, Stephanie Dismore, couldn't drum up the support needed to get out of Round 1 in the Hardware Region, falling to Sammy Kinlaw 64 percent to 36 percent. Kinlaw, Lenovo's North America Channel Chief, roared back from a 10-point deficit to ultimately secure a 28-point victory.

Kinlaw gets a chance to keep it moving as he squares off with Intel's Maurits Tichelman.

Hardware -- Round 1

Sandra Glaser Cheek, Ruckus vs. Curtiz Gangi, Eaton

Sandra Glaser Cheek, vice president, worldwide partner sales at Ruckus Wireless, made a strong Channel Madness tournament debut, posting a 61 percent to 39 percent over Curtiz Gangi, sales vice president, U.S. channels, data center segment at Eaton.

The 22-point victory sets Glaser Cheek up for a Round 2 Hardware Region bout with Dell's Frank Vitagliano

Hardware-- Round 1

Frank Vitagliano, Dell vs. Jos Brenkel, HP Inc.

Channel veteran Frank Vitagliano proved resilient, narrowly defeating Jos Brenkel, HP Inc.'s senior vice president, personal and printing systems, worldwide sales, by 2 points for a Round 1 victory. Vitagliano, vice president of global partner strategy and programs at Dell, suffered a tough loss in Round 1 of last year's tournament and was in danger of facing the same fate in 2016, with Vitagliano and Brenkel in a dead tie heading into the final day of Round 1 voting.

With the 51 percent to 49 percent victory, Vitagliano earns a trip to Round 2 in the Hardware Region and will face off with Ruckus' Sandra Glaser Cheek.

Cloud -- Round 1

Jessica Couto, Carbonite vs. Adam Famularo, Verizon

Last year's tournament darling, Adam Famularo, jumped out to an early lead in his Round 1 Cloud Region matchup against Carbonite's vice president of U.S. channel sales, Jessica Couto. Then things got crazy. CRN first reported Tuesday that Famularo will be moving on from the telecommunications giant for an as-of-yet unspecified role as CEO of a software company.

While the move may be a positive for him, Famularo's career change did nothing for him in the Channel Madness tournament, and he ultimately fell to Couto 56 percent to 44 percent.

Couto will get a chance to capitalize on this momentum when she faces Datto's Rob Rae in Round 2.

Cloud -- Round 1

Rob Rae, Datto vs. Terry Wise, Amazon

Rob Rae, Datto vice president of Business Development, posted a strong win in Round 1, topping the head of channels at cloud giant Amazon Web Services. Rae's 65 percent to 35 percent win over Terry Wise, vice president of worldwide partner ecosystem at AWS, will certainly put the rest of the Cloud Region on notice.

Rae will square off with Carbonite's Jessica Couto in Round 2.

Cloud -- Round 1

Craig West, NetSuite vs. Frank Rauch, VMware

Frank Rauch made his presence known in the inaugural Channel Madness tour, making a deep run before ultimately falling in the Enterprise Eight. Rauch, vice president of VMware's Americas Partner Organization, is looking to go deeper in this year's tournament and is off to a great start, posting a 36-point win over Craig West. The 68 percent to 32 percent loss is the second straight first round exit for NetSuite's vice president of channel sales.

Rauch will get a chance to keep the positive momentum going against Brooks McCorcle in Round 2.

Cloud -- Round 1

Mike Kunz, StorageCraft vs. Brooks McCorcle, AT&T

Brooks McCorcle, president, AT&T partner solutions, posted a tie for the highest margin of victory in Round 1, with a 79 percent to 21 percent win over StorageCraft's vice president, worldwide sales, Mike Kunz.

McCorcle, who suffered a tough loss to VMware's Frank Rauch in Round 1 of last year's tournament, will get a shot at revenge as she faces Rauch in this year's Cloud Region rematch.

Software -- Round 1

Mike Valentine, Sophos vs. Bill Swales, Oracle

Mike Valentine, Sophos senior vice president, Worldwide Sales, let the world know that his 2015 championship run was not a fluke. While his 58-point victory over Oracle's Bill Swales tied Brooks McCorcle for the largest margin of victory in Round 1, Valentine can boast the most overall votes in the round. Swales, Oracle's Group vice president, North America Alliances, Channels Sales, fell behind quickly and never recovered, ultimately falling 79 percent to 21 percent.

Valentine will look to keep the Software Region magic going against Red Hat's Mark Enzweiler in Round 2.

Software -- Round 1

Joe Sykora, Fortinet vs. Mark Enzweiler, Red Hat

Mark Enzweiler, Red Hat senior vice president of Global Channel Sales, made a statement in Round 1, taking down Joe Sykora, vice president, Americas channels, enhanced technologies at Fortinet, 69 percent to 31 percent. Enzweiler, who was bounced in the first round of last year's tournament by IBM's Marc Dupaquier, will make his second-round debut when he faces off with last year's champion, Sophos' Mike Valentine.

Software -- Round 1

Marc Dupaquier, IBM vs. Rodolpho Cardenuto, SAP

Marc Dupaquier, IBM general manager, Global Business Partners, made it to the Enterprise Eight in the inaugural Channel Madness tournament. This year, Dupaquier couldn't make it out of the first round. Dupaquier was unable to drum up the same support he had a year ago, losing to SAP's president of Global Channels, Rodolpho Cardenuto, 57 percent to 43 percent. Cardenuto held a slight lead throughout the weekend and pressed it to the end to ultimately win by 14 points.

Carenduto will draw Microsoft's Phil Sorgen in a Round 2 Software Region matchup.

Software -- Round 1

Phil Sorgen, Microsoft vs. Ron Myers, Palo Alto Networks

Phil Sorgen jumped out to an early lead over Ron Myers and never relented. Sorgen, Microsoft's corporate vice president, worldwide partner group, came out of the weekend with a strong lead over Myers, and despite ceding a little ground in the final day of voting, he finished with a 57 percent to 43 percent victory over Palo Alto Networks' vice president of worldwide channel sales.

Sorgen will look to keep the ball rolling in the Software region as he squares off with SAP's Rodolpho Cardenuto.