The 100 People You Don’t Know But Should 2020
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.
When it comes to building a bleeding-edge channel strategy, technology vendors constantly have to commit to providing the resources and support their partners need to grow and thrive.
Often that takes the form of building strong teams that include people to manage inventive channel programs, bring creativity to channel marketing campaigns and build technical training programs to keep partners one step ahead. G
And when times get tough, investments in those kinds of channel management team members become even more important in building trust with partners and keeping channel sales on track.
While some channel executives are familiar faces, many are not. In fact, a vast majority work tirelessly behind the scenes to support their partners without ever being recognized by 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)
Tavey Daley
U.S. Commercial Channel, Inside Sales Manager
Acer America
Described as a tireless worker and customer advocate, Daley is responsible for navigating big deals with Acer’s field teams, working with his team to create the special pricing letters that all resellers use for bids on the larger volume opportunities. They are the glue that keeps it all together.
(By company name)
Zak Nelson
Director, Marketing, Strategic Business Initiatives
ADT Security Services
With his responsibilities around leading product strategy and development, Nelson has immeasurably helped ADT and its partners improve the way they do business. His efforts to improve the customer experience have helped ADT become a more responsive, agile and attractive provider to partners.
(By company name)
Teresa Carlson
VP, Worldwide Public Sector
Amazon Web Services
Colleagues say Carlson hasn’t gotten enough credit for the investments she’s made to advance partners’ solutions. Her commitment and participation with many partners have led to a growing business for AWS. She meets constantly with the AWS partner community and is helping build a strong ecosystem.
(By company name)
Matthew Unangst
Director, Commercial Client Business
AMD
A business and engineering leader with a track record of delivering results, Unangst is one of the driving forces behind AMD’s efforts to push new high- performance systems into the market through the channel. In addition to financial incentives, AMD has launched other channel rewards and online training.
(By company name)
Jeremy Edwards
Eastern Regional Director, Channel Field Sales
APC by Schneider Electric
Edwards is helping APC meet its most important business objectives: partner growth, profitability and satisfaction. He’s also helping lead the team that drives growth in APC’s managed partner channel. He is determined to set up the company’s channel managers for success so that they can deliver for partners.
(By company name)
Anne Arnavat
Sr. Inside Sales Manager
Arrow Electronics
Arnavat is described as “the epitome of an unsung channel hero,” known for unselfishly putting partners’ needs first. Many of Arrow’s partner principals have come to rely on her heavily in times of need. She is credited with having an undeniable impact, earning partners’ trust by ensuring that Arrow delivers.
(By company name)
Vivek Khemani
Sr. Director, Channel Enablement, Operation
Aruba, an HPE company
A key driver of Aruba’s as-a- service initiatives to bring consumptionbased networking offerings to the channel, Khemani has also focused on helping partners drive customer engagement and build up their engineering skills. He is now leading the development of the Partner Ambassador Program for top partner engineers.
(By company name)
Beth Hoppe
Sr. Sales Planning Manager
AT&T
AT&T’s Alliance Channel underwent extensive changes last year. Among them were the launches of new compensation plans, a new communication portal, new rules of engagement and new contracts. Hoppe, a 15-year AT&T veteran, was instrumental in delivering these enhancements in a timely manner and with excellence.
(By company name)
Callie Currier
Digital Marketing Manager
Axcient
A data-driven, multi-channel marketer and content strategist with a decade of experience, Currier oversees the data protection vendor’s digital marketing campaigns and is doing “amazing things” with its strategy. She is said to tap into her agility and creativity to drive high-impact marketing campaigns.
(By company name)
Chad Lindsey
Sales VP, Americas Field Operations
Barracuda Networks
In his nearly nine years with Barracuda , Lindsey has built a strong foundation for helping partners succeed. He recently tapped into his knowledge of field operations and internal systems to step in as interim channel chief and is spearheading a project to support a subset of Barracuda’s partners in creative ways.
(By company name)
Paige Hansen
Regional Channel Manager
BeyondTrust
Hansen’s tireless work ethic and dedication have led to longlasting relationships with partners through engaging enablement sessions, meticulous deal assistance and making connections with customers. She sets the bar high by bringing a true understanding of the value behind effective and supported partnerships.
(By company name)
Samantha Sisk
Distribution Manager, North America
Bitdefender
In her role managing BitDefender’s distributors for the past two years, Sisk has helped new partners grow and has established closer ties with the distribution channel. She also has played a key part in helping the security vendor’s MSP and cloud program flourish over the past year.
(By company name)
Katherine Stickels
Director, North America Field, Channel Marketing
BlackBerry
Stickels wins kudos for playing a key role in driving the North America channel strategy and program at BlackBerry. She is tightly aligned with field sales, channel sales, marketing, operations and partners to ensure launch plans and demand-creation programs are successfully executed in the field with partners.
(By company name)
Colleen Hatala
Director, Global Channel Sales
Broadcom
Hatala is tapping into her treasure trove of experience across multiple aspects of channel leadership, including running global channel sales teams, managing global distribution, driving go-to-market, operations and programs for the channel and building a partner engagement model for operational efficiency.
(By company name)
Stephanie DeSanto
Sr. Partner Program Development Manager
Brother International
DeSanto has established herself as a strong sales professional, moving her way up in the Brother organization with a demonstrated skill set in customer service, enterprise software, sales, cold calling and business development, which she’s now bringing to bear to help strengthen the company’s partner program.
(By company name)
Brian Freeh
Director, Partner Success
Bvoip
Freeh works to ensure Bvoip’s partners have the tools they need to continually achieve success. He is credited with putting partner success in the spotlight by changing many of the company’s internal processes to help solution providers and is continuing to help modify them every day.
(By company name)
Anthony D’Angelo
VP, Global Channel Sales, Business Development
Cato Networks
Cato brought D’Angelo on board in July as its first channel chief, where he will focus on driving success of global master agents, VARs and distributors while developing partnerships with leading systems integrators and MSPs. Out of the gate, he has worked to bring more enablement to partners and increased investment in the program.
(By company name)
Robert Uphoff
Director, Business Development
CenturyLink
A channel advocate who also serves as chief of staff to channel chief Garrett Gee, Uphoff is credited with making a significant impact on CenturyLink’s Channel Partner Program, playing a key role in numerous highprofile projects, such as the CenturyLink Channel Partner Agreement, rules of engagement, compensation and incentive strategies.
(By company name)
Gaby Martinez
Sr. Director, Sales Operations, SMB
Charter Communications
Known as a “fixer” whose commitment to the channel is second to none, Martinez works tirelessly to improve processes and launch tools and systems that make it easier to do business with Charter/ Spectrum, where she draws heavily on her knowledge of the channel and its partners to effect change.
(By company name)
Dan Yerushalmi
Chief Customer Officer
Check Point Software Technologies
A former CIO who is all too familiar with customer pain points, Yerushalmi leads by example and is credited with believing in Check Point’s channel, changing the sales culture and driving process change. He is known for driving accountability and communicating expectations.
(By company name)
Don Hart
Director, Digital Renewals, Customer Experience
Cisco Systems
Hart supports partners as they optimize their service and subscription sales and renewal businesses. He was instrumental in Cisco’s Renewals Commerce Automation, a low-touch offering that uses AI to identify and deliver high-value, co-branded renewal opportunities for partners.
(By company name)
Dan Peralta
Sr. Channel Operations, Business Metric Analyst
Citrix Systems
Peralta brings a channel-first mindset to his role at Citrix and has provided extensive business intelligence and clarity to the company’s channel business. He has worked to highlight important areas that will allow the company to drive more sales through its channel partners.
Jason Elizondo
Head of Global Channel Program Management, Strategy
Cohesity
Elizondo has been working behind the scenes with team members to create tools and programs to help partners succeed with Cohesity. This collaborative approach has resulted in a program that rewards partners for investing in and growing with Cohesity as it aims to scale to $ 1 billion in three years.
(By company name)
Vivian Chavez
Sr. Director, Channel Programs
Comcast Business
A Comcast Business indirect channel team member since its inception in 2011, Chavez has built strong relationships with master agents and is credited with providing them with top-notch support and assisting in strategic planning. She has earned the reputation of keeping their best interests in mind.
(By company name)
Michelle Urso
Director, Partner Enablement
Commscope
A productivity and process whiz, Urso is driving operational efficiencies and program execution for Ruckus within Commscope. She worked with IT to build out the channel team’s partner relationship management requirements and continues to identify ways to enable ease of business for partners.
(By company name)
Graeme Steakley
Director, Channel Sales
Commvault
The results-driven manager of Commvault’s highest-performing solution providers in the Americas, Steakley’s focus is on joint business planning and execution of quarterly business reviews. He is described as “the stellar example of a player/coach role model” with a penchant for building loyal teams.
(By company name)
Laurie Sorensen
Learning Architect
ConnectWise
As an instrumental player on ConnectWise’s Education team, Sorensen works tirelessly with partners to help them build, communicate, maintain and execute plans. She runs workshops and coaching sessions that help partners focus on what they really want to accomplish and how they are going to get it done.
(By company name)
Shannon Sholtis
Sr. Director, Marketing Communications
D&H Distributing
Sholtis is laserfocused on enabling partners with the resources they need to market their brands and connects with hundreds of partners at every D&H technology event. Whether consulting with partners on their branding and messaging efforts, or performing digital and website audits, her goal is to help partners be better.
(By company name)
Andrea Ayala
Vendor Alliances Manager
Datto
Ayala owns vendor management at MSP-focused Datto and is tasked with finding new manufacturers and technology offerings that the company can introduce to its growing channel community. She accomplishes this feat via webinars and introductions, all in an effort to help MSPs find key vendor partners.
(By company name)
Cindy Spring
Director, Global Go To Market Strategy, Global Channels
Dell Technologies
A 35-year Dell Technologies veteran who is described as irreplaceable, Spring brings a treasure trove of knowledge about the channel as she drives the company’s global goto-market channel strategy. Her ability to stand up a program or solve an issue never ceases to amaze her colleagues.
(By company name)
Chris Gowin
Sales Director, Southeast, Gulf
Eaton
Gowin is turning heads by dedicating countless hours to interacting with channel partners and their customers, building up his understanding of their needs and pain points and making sure they have the tools they need to be successful. Many know him as a true friend of the channel.
(By company name)
Aaron Fisher
VP, Sales, Business Development
EdgeConnex
Fisher is driving sales and business development at EdgeConnex, one of the hottest edge data center players. Global investment firm EQT Infrastructure snapped up the company in August in a deal reportedly valued north of $2.5 billion. EQT’s financial resources will help EdgeConnex accelerate growth.
(By company name)
Rachel Ramsey
Manager, Channel Sales
Extreme Networks
Self-described as a passionate, driven, organized, dependable individual who learns quickly and remains calm under pressure, Ramsey thrives in the face of a challenge and works hard to make a difference in the lives of the Extreme partners who count on the networking vendor for success.
(By company name)
Preston Hogue
Sr. Director, Security Marketing
F5 Networks
Hogue consistently challenges his peers, management and the channel team on getting past the status quo in F5’s go-to-market strategy. With past experience working at a solution provider, he can fully put himself in partners’ shoes to understand their needs and the long-term impact they can have for F5.
(By company name)
Dan Satinoff
Director, Channel, U.S. Public Sector, North America Distribution
FireEye
Described as having contagious energy and an off-the-charts drive to make good things happen for others, Satinoff motivates his team and his peers through positivity and is always seeking new ideas to promote the FireEye channel business.
(By company name)
Robert “Buck” Flannigan
VP, Global Partners
Fluree
Blockchain startup Fluree is seeing momentum in recruiting systems integrators, consultants, VARs and ISVs to work with its data management platform, and one key reason is Flannigan, who helped launch its first global partner program with the goal of finding partners to help bridge “the last mile.”
(By company name)
Cindy Toy
Sr. Manager, Channel Marketing
Fortinet
Toy works to align Fortinet’s back-end systems and manages its deal registration platform, tapping into her tireless work ethic to ensure that leads are routed appropriately and deal registrations are processed efficiently and quickly, making a huge difference for Fortinet partners duking it out in the sales trenches.
(By company name)
Annette Montoya
Director, Global Programs, Operations
Gigamon
Montoya is a gogetter who when she sees a problem, solves a problem. She is constantly on the lookout for ways to improve Gigamon’s channel-focused systems, both internal- and externalfacing, and she has developed training for Gigamon teams on systems and programs related to working with channel partners.
(By company name)
Shobana Shankar
Partner Sales Manager
Google Cloud
Shankar’s mission is to help ensure Google’s territory field reps have a strategy that incorporates partners in everything they do. She is lauded for being innovative in developing new approaches to align the teams, including creating a #GrowWithGoogle event that netted 140 new opportunities in a single day.
(By company name)
Mark Glasgow
SVP, Worldwide Sales, Field Operations
Hammerspace
Hammerspace under Glasgow’s watch has committed itself to the channel by aligning with solution providers that bring significantly more value to their customers through strong IT engineering expertise in data management. With 20 years in sales management under his belt, he adds strong leadership to the Hammerspace sales team.
(By company name)
Max Ramos
Worldwide Channels, Ecosystems Sr. Manager, Everything as a Service
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
The unsung hero of the HPE GreenLake cloud services model, Ramos is a 22-year HPE veteran with an MBA in management who has done the behind-the-scenes work to make HPE an Everything-as-a-Service leader. HPE GreenLake posted a “record-breaking” 82 percent growth in service orders in the most recent quarter.
(By company name)
Greg Bucyk
VP, Partner Strategy, GTM, Strategic Alliances
Hitachi Vantara
Colleagues call Bucyk Hitachi Vantara’s “bridge,” as he leads its partner enablement strategy with his strong grasp of the vendor’s technology, sense of history and knowledge of the value a channel partner can deliver. When it comes to strategic projects, he can easily translate complex situations into simple solutions with a focus on partners.
(By company name)
Susan Berntheisel
Director, U.S. Commercial Supplies
HP Inc.
With 22 years of experience at HP and more than 30 years in the channel, Berntheisel has built her career on partner and program development. As a channel advocate, her contributions have helped shape programs and processes to raise the bar on partner profitability with simpler, more predictable programs and support.
(By company name)
Catherine Solazzo
VP, Performance Marketing, Partner Ecosystem
IBM
Solazzo led the team that implemented IBM’s partner learning platform to provide training and credentials to the channel, as well as its partner sales enablement platform, which delivers content from across the entire IBM business to help partners close more deals by equipping them with important sales assets.
(By company name)
Amelia Paro
Channel Development Manager
ID Agent, a Kaseya Company
A cybersecurity and channel sales professional with over 10 years of experience, Paro taps know-how earned from previous experience managing a successful MSP as she works with ID Agent’s cadre of channel partners, MSPs and strategic partners to grow and thrive.
(By company name)
Divya Saggar
Sr. Manager, IGEL Alliances
IGEL
Since joining IGEL in March, Saggar has been key to the launch of the IGEL Ready Program, designing the initiative from scratch to create an ecosystem of compatible applications and devices. She also rolled out a website to showcase best-in-class partner technologies integrated with IGEL OS.
(By company name)
Yael Caspi
Sr. Channel Program Manager
Imperva
Caspi drives several of Imperva’s critical channel programs and processes, including its partner portal, channel program tier requirements, training credits and rebate program. She keeps the channel program running smoothly and is part of the front-line team driving joint success with the channel.
Kelly Miller
Director, Americas Channel
Infoblox
Miller wins kudos for leading the Infoblox channel team to become the highest-performing in its history, including the close of one of its largest enterprise deals. The channel standout has also overseen the integration of Infoblox technology with offerings from large VARs and systems integrators
Farrah Zidehsarai
Director, Dell, VMware Business Unit
Ingram Micro
With 20-plus years of channel experience, Zidehsarai is no stranger to building successful working relationships between stakeholders. Colleagues say her “playbook” approach to achieving repeatable growth have been key to Dell’s growth as one of Ingram Micro’s top-performing vendor partners.
Lenny Tran
Channel Engagement, Americas
Intel
Tran champions the voice of the partner within Intel in his role as program manager for its Partner Advisory Boards and carries the load when it comes to all elements of membership and benefit programs. He mentors new employees to make sure they gain a full understanding of the important role of the channel.
Alison Haynes
SVP, Marketing, Partner Programs
IntelePeer
Known to roll up her sleeves to help her team execute, Haynes is a top advocate for driving content, training, marketing and comarketing efforts with channel partners. She is always looking for new ways to engage with partners and is a key reason the IntelePeer channel grew bookings by over 70 percent in 2019.
Jennifer Latsis
Partner Programs Office Team Lead
Juniper Networks
Latsis managed the Americas MDF program, which directly drove Juniper’s channel business and strategic priorities by nurturing partners who are growing their enterprise business with Juniper. She is now tackling the company’s rollout of a partner relationship management solution that aims to boost partner profitability and efficiency.
Randall Richard
Head of U.S. Enterprise Sales
Kaspersky Lab
Since joining Kaspersky in February, Richard has focused on driving sales of its threat intelligence offering out to a broader range of enterprise customers, a task he says requires sophisticated partners that can provide thought leadership. He credits the Kaspersky channel for setting a high standard for building customer trust.
Wendy Welch
Sr. Director, U.S. Distribution, Partner Sales
Lenovo
Always on the lookout for ways to ensure channel success, Welch is responsible for driving Lenovo’s Intelligent Devices Group business through VAR and distribution channels. The group has been focused on providing consistent, improved communications to help maintain tight ties with partners.
Ricardo Pleitez
Director, Worldwide SMB Channels
Lexmark
Pleitez is making Lexmark’s strategy to “play bigger than we are” a reality by developing and expanding its telesales team over the past year, an effort that is increasing mindshare and winning over new partners while strengthening relationships with existing ones. Pleitez’s proactive approach is improving the overall partner experience.
Casey Higgins
Director, Worldwide Channel, Alliances
Liongard
Higgins is the go-to partner guy at Liongard, supporting the company’s push to bring its automation platform to as many MSPs as possible. The upside for partners is profitability and revenue growth with visibility beyond the endpoint and into critical on-premises apps, the network stack and cloud services
John Zustra
Lead, Channel Operations
LogicMonitor
Zustra’s “cando” approach to supporting LogicMonitor’s channel is turning heads, from building enablement programs to improving channel operations to creating dashboards and reports so his team can track its progress. He makes the back office sing, laying the foundation for a thriving partner ecosystem.
Jim Glackin
SVP, Global Channel Sales
Masergy
A rock star in the telecom space, Glackin joined Masergy as its first-ever global channel chief this summer and brought with him 26 years of experience. Soon afterward the company expanded its SD-WAN portfolio and launched a new partner program that Glackin says gives partners “more swings at bat.”
Ned D’Antonio
Director, Channels, Canada, MSP North America
McAfee
D’Antonio launced McAfee’s Managed Security Service Partner program and strategy in Canada, and soon after set his sights on including the Americas. The program has driven millions in incremental bookings to McAfee’s Canadian business and is now poised for success in the U.S.
Tracey Pretorius
Sr. Director, Global Partner Strategy
Microsoft
Lauded as “an incredible advocate for Microsoft partners,” Pretorius ensures the needs and perspectives of partners are heard. From creating the partner experience for Microsoft Inspire to sharing feedback with an engineering team, she is committed to amplifying partner voices.
Marjanne Reijne
Director, Global Partner Programs Management
NetApp
Reijne has been laser-focused on optimizing business processes as she worked to automate NetApp’s on-boarding procedures to shorten the time it takes for partners to get up and running. She sees her role managing partners’ NetApp life cycles as a mission and is always striving to help them grow revenue.
Richard Nordstrom
AVP, Channel Sales Oracle
Netsuite
Nordstrom is lauded as a tireless supporter of Oracle NetSuite’s partners and the business they jointly have together. He is said to work constantly to align the vendor’s business goals with those of its partners, all while ensuring the ultimate success of mutual customers.
Steve Bottini
Regional Sales Manager
NeuShield
Bottini is bringing his 20-plus years of security software and hardware sales experience to bear as he builds out NeuShield’s channel. He’s taken on the difficult responsibility of making sure the security startup partners’ expectations are not only met but exceeded, and he does so with gusto.
Henry “Hank” Humphreys
VP, Global Revenue Strategy, Operations
Nextiva
UCaaS specialist Nextiva is in the midst of a channel transformation with a lot of new sales and channel leaders, including Humphreys. While Nextiva’s roots lie in the SMB market, Humphreys is part of the team that’s tapping partners to help it break into the enterprise.
Paul Mayes
Sr. Director, Global Channel Strategy
Nutanix
Mayes has spread his talents wide during his five years at Nutanix, driving channel programs globally to foster loyalty, profitability and operations; building systems to track available sellers; optimizing the quoteto-cash process; and creating global pricing and rebate programs that reward channel partners for high-impact measurable results.
Cathy Timmerman
Director, Global Channel Programs, Strategy
Nvidia
When a problem within Nvidia’s channel team seems unsolvable, it often lands with Timmerman, who has a track record for handling field escalation issues that many channel regional leaders cannot solve. Through the many cross-company relationships she has fostered, she will help create new policies to resolve channel conflicts.
Clay Magouyrk
EVP, Oracle Cloud
Oracle
As Oracle’s new cloud chief, Magouyrk is setting his sights high, aiming to penetrate the top tier of the fiercely competitive public cloud market. To get there, he’s focused on a unique value proposition that will drive sales for Oracle and its network of cloud partners: Oracle’s metamorphosis into a cloud-first company.
Danielle Knight
Channel Programs Manager
Palo Alto Networks
A relative newcomer to Palo Alto Networks, Knight has the unique ability to perform well across a lot of different functions at the company and has already moved into a larger role project-managing its largest channel initiatives and providing reporting to keep the team on target with its aggressive growth goals.
Sophie Merrifield
Sr. Director, Vendor Launch
Pax8
When new vendors come into the Pax8 cloud stack, it’s Merrifield who manages the team responsible for helping them launch successfully with the distributor’s cadre of solution providers. Her focus on every step of the cloud buying journey sets up both the vendors and channel partners for success.
Brendan Strain
Director, Unified Communications/ Contact Center Solutions
PlanetOne
With certifications across UC, contact center and network design disciplines, Strain has a 15-plus year track record in the telecommunications, IT and service provider space. He takes pride in finding the best technology to craft offerings that solve problems customers haven’t yet encountered.
Wendy Stusrud
VP, Americas Channel Sales
Pure Storage
Stusrud manages Pure Storage’s Leads Passed initiative, a program that teaches its sales team how develop leads and turn them over to partners. As a result, the storage vendor is seeing higher participation in the field from top partners, who are sourcing new business and growing their offerings beyond storage.
Joe Gabriel
Sr. Director, Global Partner Marketing
Qlik
Colleagues credit Gabriel’s partner-savvy marketing leadership skills and ability to keep the partner voice in mind for boosting ROI and usage of its MDF program, creating an uptick in consumption of partnerfacing communications and building success with new offerings such as Qlik Partner Marketing Services.
Mike Watkins
Sr. Director, North America Solution Architects
Red Hat
Tapping into his ability to combine partner objectives with Red Hat’s business goals, Watkins has led his team to work with a focused set of partners, leading to 30 percent yearover-year growth in bookings. He has built a reputation as a channel champion who strives to improve partner programs.
Dave Govan
VP, Americas Sales
RSA Security
Govan offers common-sense advice to sales teams in the field: provide the information prospects want in the first meeting and communicate in a way that forms a connection and holds their attention. That’s the strategy he’s using as he aims to grow sales of RSA’s full portfolio of digital risk management offerings.
Tanja Froehlingsdorf
Sr. Director, Global Channel Marketing
Rubrik
A self-described channel evangelist with commitment and passion in spades, Froehlingsdorf joined Rubrik earlier this year, tapping into her 15 years of storage channel experience (and her determination and grit as an Ironman triathlete) to maximize the partner pipeline, revenue contributions and ROI.
Sherrick Murdoff
VP, Partner Investments, M&A
Salesforce
Murdoff juggles two complex partner teams at the forefront of Salesforce’s innovation: partner investments and partner M&A. With the former, he teams with Salesforce Ventures to provide equity investments to consulting partners, agencies and ISVs. In the latter, he adds partner perspective to help vet acquisition targets.
Kevin Holmes
VP, North America Sales
Scale Computing
Holmes is a big part of the reason Scale Computing has built up a loyal core of partners. He removes roadblocks to smooth the sales process, coordinates with marketing to ease program rollouts, collaborates with product management to bring partner perspective to key road map decisions and works to ensure sales quotas are met.
Sarah Hill
Sr. Events Specialist
SolarWinds MSP
When the pandemic struck and turned the events business on its head, Hill transformed SolarWinds MSP’s global community events into dynamic virtual engagements. She took the reins for all virtual event planning and project management to ensure partners still have full access to training, business transformation and partnership-building activities.
Jason Carter
VP, Installed Base, Inside Sales
SonicWall
Working under the adage that it’s easier to cultivate an existing customer than to find a new one, Carter brings high energy, a strong work ethic and a deep understanding of the channel to his work teaming with security vendor SonicWall’s inside sales team to help partners uncover and develop new opportunities within their existing customer base.
Sara Cloutier
Manager, Global Channel Programs
Sophos
Cloutier has an uncanny ability to put herself in partners’ shoes to make sure the work Sophos does in developing programs takes their needs into account. She was a driving force in improving the services and support solution providers get through the Sophos Partner Portal and deal registration.
Maryse Schlesinger
Sr. Director, Global Deal Management Desk
Splunk
Schlesinger recently stepped into a new role leading Splunk’s deal registration desk, where she will build on her previous success as the director of global partner field operations. In that role, she earned a reputation for making a difference in the lives of partners and bringing vast improvements to the partner experience.
Chad Bruhn
VP, Sales Operations, Partner Enablement
Star2Star Communications
Bruhn serves as a constant resource for Star2Star’s sales team and channel partners, handling many projects and resolving conflicts behind the scenes. He wins praise as one of the most knowledgeable and hard-working members of the Star2Star team, often answering the toughest questions from partners and customers.
Junior Silva
Product Manager
StorageCraft Technology
Silva’s understanding of security and cloud trends brings valuable insight to StorageCraft’s product development efforts, including the rollouts of ShadowXafe and OneXafe Solo. He regularly checks in with partners to make sure products are as good in the field as they are on paper.
Casey Gary
Director, Product Management
Synnex
Colleagues say Gary is one of the hardest workers at Synnex, where she holds true to the “cando” attitude that is an integral part of the distributor’s culture. She wins praise for protecting partners’ work, streamlining their operations and supporting increases in their profitability through programs and engagement.
Brian Gibellino
Sr. Business Development Rep
Tech Data
A rising star on Tech Data’s Reseller Connect team, Gibellino is bringing technology innovation to partners through his work on the marketing portal— which provides tools to help resellers market themselves. He also rolled out syndicated e-commerce tools, helping over 2,000 resellers up their inbound marketing game.
Laura Kelly
Manager, Channel Marketing
T-Mobile
Kelly leads T-Mobile’s channel marketing team, where she is seen as an invaluable resource. She drives efforts to acquire new partners, consults with partners on their own marketing, and cultivates awareness of partner solutions and capabilities internally to boost “sell with” efforts.
Kristin Bourassa
Strategic Partners Manager
Trend Micro
Bourassa is a goal-oriented team player with a strong background in sales, project management, customer relations and mediation who thrives in the fast-paced environment at Trend Micro, where she is helping some of the company’s most strategic solution providers get the most out of their partnerships with the security vendor.
Corey Humphreys
Sales Application Engineering Supervisor
Tripp Lite
Humphreys leads Tripp Lite’s data center application team, which is credited by insiders and customers as a huge differentiator that is having the biggest impact and adding the most value for channel partners. Humphreys inspires the team to simplify the sales process and help channel partner sales organizations broaden their solutions.
Tom Alexander
Founder, CEO
Uplevel Systems
With a string of successful startup acquisitions under his belt, Alexander is now focused on small-business infrastructure at Uplevel Systems. It’s a sweet spot to be in as its focus on helping distributed offices control their infrastructure, stabilize internet connections and ensure corporate security is perfectly suited to today’s work-from-home environment.
Nicholas Wichman
Inside Sales Manager
Veeam Software
While Veeam has an extensive sales and support team d e d i c a t e d to partner and service providers, Wichman is a noted standout. He leans on his past experience in the Veeam sales team trenches to offer guidance and support to his team with perspective, making him a steady and reliable resource.
(By company name)
Ray West
Director, Inside Sales, IT Solutions
Vertiv
West took over leadership of Vertiv’s inside sales representatives group about a year after it was created and has since honed the team’s focus on the federal, state/local, education and health-care verticals with U.S.-based call centers that are standing by to answer all the partner community’s questions and meet their needs.
(By company name)
Sonal Patel
Sr. Director, Partner Operating Model
VMware
Patel has helped transform the channel organization at VMware by implementing consistent role definitions across the geographic business units and implementing an efficient operating model. Her work is credited with creating better engagement between VMware and its partners.
(By company name)
Ronda Ralph
Channel Program Manager
Vonage
Ralph has been making great strides in one of Vonage’s core strategy goals: defining and implementing a solid partner on-boarding process and overhauling its partner portal. She manages a team of channel success coordinators who, under her tutelage, are adding more value to the channel partner experience.
(By company name)
Sue Nolin
VP, Inside Sales
Wasabi Technologies
When it comes to growing sales and its channel team, Wasabi turns to Nolin. She is constantly working to up the cloud storage vendor’s game when it comes to supporting solution providers’ sales efforts every day. She knows the channel is key to her and Wasabi’s success.
(By company name)
Marc Laliberte
Sr. Security Analyst
WatchGuard Technologies
Security nerd, white-hat hacker and expert in all things WatchGuard, Laliberte works with partners on everything from designing their implementations and vetting their product ideas to supporting their marketing and presales efforts.
(By company name)
Andrew Perry
VP, Sales
WekaIO
With WekaIO’s 100 percent focus on channel sales, Perry is focused on ensuring partner success, drawing on over 25 years of experience leading global sales teams at various companies. Last fall he launched the WekaIO Innovation Network global partner program as the next step in its channel evolution.
(By company name)
Grainne McQuaid
Leader, Global Partner Field Marketing
Xerox
Colleagues emphatically label McQuaid as a star who is bringing her talents to bear in expanding Xerox’s demand generation initiatives globally. She’s a 24-year company veteran with a Six Sigma Black Belt who prides herself on being a highly collaborative, effective network-builder wellskilled at delivering results as part of a team.
(By company name)
Amanda Maxwell
Channel Program Manager
Zix
Although her tenure at Zix is only a year long so far, she’s already having a big impact on partner relationships and revenue, offering top-notch support to channel account managers and Zix partners. From developing spot-on marketing campaigns to supporting Channel Partner Advisory Council meetings, she’s making a difference.
(By company name)
Jeanine Bierlein
Head of Channel Operations
Zoom Video Communications
Bierlein joined Zoom in April to help the hottest tamale in the videoconferencing-as-a-service market ramp up its channel efforts. She brings with her a 20-plus year history of scaling and optimizing operations in fresh ways that produce results and inspire teammates.
(By company name)