11 Enterprise-Savvy Google Execs Who Used To Work For Rival Vendors

Making The Enterprise Push

Over the past few years, Google has put together a strong lineup of enterprise-savvy executives from vendors such as Oracle, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, SAP and Salesforce.com, to name a few. Collectively, these executives bring a ton of enterprise business expertise -- as well as cloud computing knowledge -- to the search giant.

That knowledge will come in handy now that Google is ditching the association with "enterprise" and portraying its product lineup as a stack -- called Google For Work -- and playing up its tools that help customers run their businesses.

Google is also officially in the cloud market with its Cloud Platform IaaS and PaaS, and one of its first big moves was to get into a cloud price war with Microsoft and Amazon that shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Here CRN presents 11 Google people who are playing big roles in driving its enterprise and cloud business.

Adam Massey, Head of Google’s Americas Enterprise Partner Business

Massey oversees Google’s enterprise partner business and channel go-to-market strategy in the Americas, a role that includes overseeing channel sales targets, partner ecosystem development and channel recruitment, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Massey joined Google in 2007 as senior sales manager for Google Apps, a product he also helped co-found. Prior to joining Google, Massey spent four years at Oracle as a sales rep for ERP and CRM applications in the Northern California region, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Shahla Aly, Director, Global Customer Experience, Google For Work

Aly joined Google in April of this year from Microsoft, where she'd spent the previous 12 years in a variety of senior leadership roles, including a five-month stint as interim CIO in 2007 and 2008, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Prior to joining Microsoft in 2002, Aly spent nearly 17 years at IBM, where she started her career as a programmer analyst with IBM Canada, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Miles Ward, Global Head of Solutions, Google Cloud Platform

Ward joined Google in May from Amazon Web Services, where he spent about four years as senior manager of solutions architecture. That role included helping "AWS customers and partners understand the cloud," according to his LinkedIn profile.

"I'm delivering the value of cloud computing to startups, agencies, ISVs and enterprises so they can stop wasting time with infrastructure and start accelerating their businesses," Ward says on his LinkedIn profile. "I helped NASA live-stream the Mars Rover landing. I helped Obama For America win the 2012 presidential campaign. I've helped thousands of companies make the leap to the cloud."

Amit Singh, President, Google For Work

Singh joined Google in 2010 from Oracle, where he spent 20 years in a number of senior-level sales, product development, channel management and M&A roles.

Singh is responsible for sales, support, deployment, product strategy and partnerships for Google Apps, Cloud Platform, Chromebooks for business and education, Google Search Appliance and Google Maps for Business, according to his LinkedIn profile.

As one of the public faces for Google's enterprise business, Singh sometimes talks about areas in which rival Microsoft is falling short. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last month, he said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is "off to a good start" but still has lots of catching up to do in key market segments.

Rahul Sood, Managing Director, Google Apps and Google Enterprise Search

Sood joined Google in 2011 as global head of enterprise partnerships, and he’s now managing director of Google Apps and Google Enterprise Search, responsible for product strategy, go-to-market and the ISV partner ecosystem, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Prior to joining Google, he spent five years at SAP in a number of senior executive roles, including ones focused on product management, strategy and M&A, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Laura Palmer, Head Of Sales, Google For Work

Palmer, who has been at Google for nearly five years, is building a team of sales execs to sell Google Apps, Chrome and Cloud Platform to enterprises in the San Francisco Bay Area and Pacific Northwest region, according to her LinkedIn profile.

As an enterprise account manager, Palmer also has moved big customers such as Rockwell Collins, Roche, Netflix, Restoration Hardware and Disney Animation from competing email and collaboration products to Google Apps, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Prior to joining Google, Palmer spent nearly five years at Hewlett-Packard as a strategic account manager for HP Software.

Carl Schachter, Vice President, Americas, Google Enterprise

Schachter joined Google in September 2012 from Salesforce.com, where he spent 12 years in a variety of senior executive leadership roles, including enterprise sales and business development, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Schachter came to Salesforce.com from Oracle, where he worked for eight years, including five years as director of partner development, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Dave Keller, Director of Sales, Google For Work

Keller joined Google in 2011 and oversees Google For Work sales to companies with 3,000 or more employees in 24 western U.S. states, including Google Drive, Google Apps, Cloud Platform and Chromebooks, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Prior to joining Google, Keller spent 15 years as a sales executive at Oracle, overseeing CRM and ERP sales to commercial and strategic accounts, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Rich Rao, Director, Google For Work

Rao, a seven-year Google veteran, oversees sales and operations of Google For Work products to global small and medium businesses, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to Google's enterprise rebranding, his title was director of worldwide sales and operations, a role focused on boosting sales of Google Apps.

In a January 2013 interview with ZDNet, Rao said small businesses were beginning to use technologies from their personal lives in business settings, and that this would be a key focus for Google in selling Google Apps.

Prior to joining Google in 2007, Rao worked for two years at Dell in corporate strategy and marketing roles, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Murali Sitaram, Managing Director, Partner Strategy And Global Alliances, Google For Work

Sitaram joined Google in February of this year after spending the previous seven years at Cisco. He's responsible for partnership strategy, partner programs, technology and global alliances for Google For Work, according to his LinkedIn profile.

At Cisco, Sitaram held a variety of senior executive roles in enterprise collaboration, including its entire portfolio of WebEx products. He also spent more than two years at Avaya in the early 2000s, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Christopher Pennington, Director, Google For Work

Pennington joined Google in June 2013 after 10 years at Microsoft, where he held a variety of enterprise-focused sales roles. He also spent 11 years in sales at Sun Microsystems, according to his LinkedIn profile.

At Google, Pennington helps guide the product and business direction for Google For Work as a member of the company's global management team. He also oversees Google For Works' people, business, sales, strategy and vision for the U.S. Eastern States, North Central region and Canada, according to his LinkedIn profile.