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Juniper Networks (JNPR) has combined its global partner organization with its field marketing team to better serve its channel partners and amplify demand within the channel. Juniper Worldwide VP of Field Marketing Matt Hurley will take on the role of vice president for the newly formed Worldwide Partner Marketing group.

While his own job responsibilities will not differ much as a result of the integration, Hurley said the change will allow Juniper to better align its marketing development funds and help partners to succeed within the channel. He also emphasized the importance of taking the time to listen to the concerns of Juniper’s partner community to amplify demand and ultimately allow partners to have input into the company’s product strategy.

“We really see this as a logical step in our strategy to develop a single unified go-to-market organization for all channels,” said Hurley in an interview with The VAR Guy. “We think it’s important because it unifies the entire organization and enhances our ability to support our partners in all regions around the world, and it really ensures that partners are the integral part of every product, solution and program.”

Juniper remains dedicated to increasing partner enablement and will continue to improve its overall investment in partner strategy, he said. And despite reports of financial decreases in Juniper’s marketing division and news of layoffs hitting the company, Hurley said that he is working to increase the global partner marketing team both in personnel and marketing dollars as part of his new role.

“My No. 1 priority over the next 100 days is to take time and visit our partners,” said Hurley. “I think you’ll see us emerge with a theme of making it easier for our partners to do business with us as well as focusing the marketing organization and channeling our dollars and resources around how we can help our partners generate demand for their businesses.”

Tech Data (TECD) added to its executive lineup this week with the appointment of two industry veterans to its mobile and Advanced Infrastructure Solutions (AIS) divisions. The distributor has tapped former Brightstar president and COO Patrick M. Stokes as vice president of Tech Data Mobile Solutions and longtime CDW and PCM executive Maurice O. Hamilton stepping in as vice president of Technical Services.

In their new roles, Stokes and Hamilton will be charged with leading the strategic direction for Tech Data Mobile Solutions in the United States and leading the strategic direction of the company’s presales support and systems engineering capabilities, respectively.

“We are pleased to welcome Patrick to the Tech Data Mobile Solutions team,” said Rod Millar, senior vice president, Worldwide, Tech Data Mobile Solutions, in a statement. “Patrick’s track record and experience will continue the strong momentum we have built in mobile distribution and services globally. As we continue to grow the Americas business within the mobile space and leverage our leading position in Europe, Patrick’s experience will prove to be invaluable.”

In addition to his tenure at Brightstar, Stokes brings with him 24 years of experience in the mobile telecommunications industry, most recently serving as president and CEO of Sage Brothers Holdings, a company dedicated to increasing shareholder value through the acquisition and conversion of target firms to minority business enterprises, according to the release. He has also held senior executive roles in sales and distribution with Verizon (VZ) and Sprint (S).

Similarly, Hamilton has more than 25 years of experience with distributors, including the aforementioned CDW and PCM, where he held a variety of senior and executive level sales and technical services positions. He also has direct experience selling and managing teams selling solutions and services at the end user level, according to Tech Data.

“Maurice is a proven leader with extensive knowledge and experience building technical and professional services capabilities, and he brings Tech Data a history of superior leadership in the IT channel,” said Chuck Bartlett, senior vice president, AIS, at Tech Data. “Specifically, Maurice will continue to position AIS as a leader in data center solutions and technical support of our channel partners.”

Tintri has appointed former VMware (VMW) executive Andrew Lee as its latest executive vice president of Alliances, leading the virtualization and cloud environment storage provider’s strategic alliances and supporting new business development and corporate strategy initiatives.

“Andy joins Tintri at a time where the interest in the market working with us is at an all-time high,” said Ken Klein, chairman and CEO of Tintri, in a statement. “His experience is a perfect match for us at this stage in our development, and the relationships he will develop with technology partners will be of immense value to support our hyper growth.”

Lee joins during a time of rapid growth, Tintri noted, with customers deploying more than 200,000 virtual machines on its Tintri storage systems as well as consecutive triple digit quarterly growth year over year. Prior to his appointment at Tintri, Lee worked as an investor at Battery Ventures in addition to tenure as a director of corporate development and strategic investment at VMware. His most recent position was with CloudBees, where he worked to raise Series C financing for the platform-as-a-service (PaaS) company.

“I’ve been an admirer of Tintri from its inception. The company has already established itself as the only smart storage solution born of virtualization and for the cloud,” said Lee. “It’s the world-class team and customers’ passion for the products that brought me to Tintri. I look forward to helping drive our global expansion and continued success.”

Tintri recently unified its regional partner programs under a single banner with the introduction of its first global partner program back in April. Lee’s appointment as head of Strategic Alliances will no doubt help Tintri to further its partner network as the company shifts more focus toward expanding its influence within the channel and making a name for itself as a major player amongst competitors.

Citrix (CTXS) has appointed IT industry veteran and former Symantec executive Brian Dye as the company’s latest group vice president and general manager of the company’s mobile platforms group. In his new role, Dye will be tasked with driving Citrix’s success in the highly competitive mobile device management and enterprise mobility management spheres while improving BYOD security and management.

“Brian’s strong qualifications in security and information management, including data mobility, are uniquely suited to further our customers’ mobility priorities,” said Sudhakar Ramakrishna, senior vice president and general manager of Citrix’s Enterprise and Service Provider division, in a statement. “He will provide great value to all of our customers, helping them succeed in a time when secure enterprise mobility is transforming how business is done.”

In addition to helping Citrix to grow its MDM and EMM solutions, Dye will be essential in working with the company’s flagship XenMobile solution for the Mobile Workspace Suite, according to the press release. The XenMobile solution is the Citrix-flavored version of a secure corporate file and application manager, similar to solutions offered by AirWatch, MobileIron and Good Technology.

Prior to his appointment at Citrix, Dye spent more than 10 years in various leadership roles at Symantec (SYMC) in product management, engineering, support and operations, including senior VP of the company’s Information Security Group. He has also worked in various engineering, program management and business development roles at Xerox, Procter and Gamble and E Ink. He will be based out of Citrix’s Santa Clara offices.

“As organizations mobilize their business, security and control are top of mind, and IT is increasingly turning to MDM or EMM solutions. Citrix is a leader in these areas and uniquely positioned to help customers meet these pressing challenges,” said Dye. “I am very excited to be part of the Citrix team where I can leverage my experience to help customers advance their secure enterprise mobility strategy.”