Category: People on the Move

Linux vendor Red Hat (RHT) has dipped into VMware’s (VMW) executive ranks to nab Scott Musson, a seven-year veteran of the virtualization vendor, as its new Global Strategic Alliances vice president.

Musson, formerly VMware’s Global Strategic Alliances senior director, steps up in rank to take the Red Hat job, where he will handle Red Hat’s global alliance, system integrator and independent software vendor (ISV) relationships. Red Hat’s Global Strategic Alliances team will take his direction to develop joint business plans with partners and build assets around the vendor’s technologies.

He also will be responsible for managing Red Hat’s strategic relationships with heavyweights Dell (DELL), Cisco Systems (CSCO) Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and IBM (IBM). Inasmuch as VMware also maintains key relationships with those vendors, Musson likely has a leg up on those tasks.

“Scott and his team will continue to develop and nurture our key strategic alliances as we deliver our award-winning solutions to the channel,” said Mark Enzweiler, Red Hat global channels and alliances vice president. “Scott’s proven ability to lead and his far-reaching expertise will benefit Red Hat as we work to offer the best resources, tools and assets our partners need to succeed. We welcome Scott to the Red Hat team.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, Musson already has been on the job for a month.

“I’m honored to join a passionate team that has built strong relationships with and continues to show commitment to their partners,” said Musson. “Red Hat’s leadership in key technology areas, including cloud, Big Data and application infrastructure and modernization, offers some exciting opportunities to make an impact. I look forward to finding new ways to further Red Hat’s industry leadership together with our partners.”

While at VMware, Musson was responsible for developing and executing a strategic and technical alliance collaboration model, leveraging key partner strengths and initiatives. Before joining VMWare, Musson served as scalable enterprise director at Dell, Microsoft (MSFT) sales and marketing director at HP and worked in pre-sales, alliances and services at NCR.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) and McAfee Channel Veteran Alex Thurber, most recently at TripWire, is joining Watchguard Technologies as VP of sales. Watchguard, a firewall and unified threat management (UTM) specialist, is a 100 percent pure channel company.

We could not reach Thurber, a former CRN Channel Chief, for comment. Nor did our resident blogger call Watchguard for comment because, um, the weekend has started. Besides, Thurber doesn’t officially start with the company until Monday — leaving us plenty of time to relax this weekend at Dorney Park (two great destinations for the price of one).

Perhaps between roller coaster rides we will call Thurber to see if he can confirm the rumored career change. But then again, our sources are rock-solid on this item. No need to check PRISM or Verizon phone records on this one, folks. Just call the main Watchguard phone number on Monday. Perhaps Thurber’s name will surface in the system…

VMware (NYSE:VMW) has officially named Dave O’Callaghan as its senior VP of global channels and alliances. The move, first reported by CRN earlier this month, arrives as VMware marches channel partners toward software-defined data centers; hybrid cloud services and mobile management opportunities.

O’Callaghan is well-known within channel circles, having previously held senior sales and indirect sales positions at Cisco Systems, Hitachi Data Systems and Memorex Telex. His experience, VMware notes, extends across small, midsize and large enterprises. His expertise also involves worldwide distribution.

O’Callaghan arrives at VMware amid several major market inflection points. They include:

• The push beyond virtualized servers toward virtualized storage and networking. The result, VMware asserts, is the so-called software-defined data center.
• The push beyond on-premise systems toward cloud services. VMware will launch its own vCloud Hybrid Service on May 21, countering Amazon Web Services, Windows Azure and other public clouds.VMware has also launched a cloud credits program to reward VARs that work with VMware’s vCloud service providers.
• The push to extend corporate applications out to smartphones and tablets, even while while end-users embrace BYOD (bring your own device) approaches. A recent VMware-Verizon partnership promotes Horizon desktop as a service (DaaS) capabilities across Google Android-based smart phones.

O’Callaghan also is surrounded by a deep bench of channel talent — including Frank Rauch, VP of VMware’s Americas Partner Organization.

So what is O’Callaghan’s first order of business? Like most of the VMware partner ecosystem, it’s safe to say he’ll tune in the big vCloud Hybrid Service launch on May 21. We will be tuning in for updates as well. 

Rackspace (NYSE:RAX) remains in growth mode. The company’s OpenStack initiatives are gaining momentum and the company has a successful channel partner program. Now for the challenge: Wall Street wants the cloud services provider (CSP) to grow even faster. And Rackspace has had some executive turnover in its channel partner program. So who’s driving the Rackspace partner program going forward? The answer has not been disclosed. Hmmm…

First, the background: Former Rackspace Channel Chief Chris Rajiah recently joined ViaWest as senior VP of sales and marketing — where he oversees that company’s partner program. Rajiah apparently exited Rackspace back in December 2012 — vacating the company’s channel chief position. Today, Rackspace still has no comment about who will lead the channel partner program going forward.

Our partner programs are more than a single person. As of June 2012, Rackspace had roughly 50 employees (“Rackers”) who focused entirely on channel partners. Around the same time, the CSP launched the Rackspace Partner Leadership Council — featuring executives from CMIT Solutions nGenX, Razorfish and more.

More Growth (Please)

Those are all promising moves. But here’s the thing: Rackspace is under intense pressure on  Wall Street right now. Many investors are worried about potentially slowing grow and intensifying competition in the cloud market — where Amazon Web Services (NASDAQ:AMZN) remains king and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Azure is now a $1 billion cloud business.

The result: Rackspace shares have fallen from $74.98 on February 12 to $48.89 on May 1, 2013. (Disclosure: We have been long on Rackspace shares for about three years, and continues to own fewer than 100 Rackspace shares.)

The channel is only one piece of Rackspace’s sales strategy. But it’s an incredibly important piece. It’s therefore time for Rackspace to clearly articulate who is driving the company’s channel partner program going forward — while describing how the next wave of VARs and MSPs will benefit from that leadership.

Security vendor Sophos has tapped Kendra Krause as channel sales vice president to oversee the company’s Americas partner initiatives.

Krause, who Sophos squired away from rival Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT), will be based in Chicago. She reports to Dick Faulkner, Sophos North American Sales vice president.

Krause’s background includes prior stints in channel sales, marketing and operations for IT security vendors, comprising most of her 15 years of industry experience, according to her LinkedIn profile. Prior to joining Sophos, Krause served as Fortinet’s channel sales director from 2007-2009, when she was promoted to Channel Sales and Operations vice president, her most recent assignment. She previously served as SonicWall’s director of National Accounts for two years, territory sales manager at WatchGuard, and Network Product Marketing manager at reseller CDW.

Krause is said to be well-versed in channel enablement, new business development and partner management.

“Kendra brings a fantastic track record of channel success and we are excited to welcome her to Sophos,” said Faulkner. “With her experience, we will look to her to not only help grow out the channel by recruiting new partners, but also enabling and empowering existing partners for further success.”

Krause said she is tasked with improving Sophos channel programs and partner enablement profile. “At Sophos, we have a huge opportunity in the channel and my appointment is part of Sophos’ initiative to increase and strengthen our programs in the United States,” she said. “Sophos’ channel model ensures that all of our partners have the proper tools and programs to be successful in their business, which in turn equates to Sophos success. This type of collaboration is a win/win for everyone and that is one of the biggest draws to joining the Sophos team.”

Krause is the second significant former Fortinet Channel Sales executive Sophos has hired in the past few months. In February, Sophos hired Michael Valentine away from Fortinet as Worldwide Sales vice president. Valentine’s resume sported similar stops as Krause’s, with positions at SonicWall and WatchGuard in addition to his tenure as Americas sales and support vice president at Fortinet. Valentine, who specializes in channel building, has said that he intends to boost Sophos sales in North America, contending that the company boasts the proper products, has shored up its channel program and, with new management, can significantly up its presence.

We all know it’s a good idea to pay attention to us. After all, whose ear is closer to the IT channel ground? Not many, as it turns out…Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) confirmed late Friday that Frank Vitagliano, the iconoclastic channel guru, is the vendor’s new channel sales vice president, just as our sources told him. Amazing, ain’t it?

Starting today, Vitagliano will oversee Dell’s small- and medium-sized VAR channel accounts and the vendor’s two-tier distribution partners, and also will develop growth strategies for small and mid-market business in North America. Vitagliano will report to Greg Davis, Dell’s channel chief, who said, of him, “Frank’s years of experience and outstanding relationships within the channel community will be a great asset to Dell and further demonstrates commitment to our channel business.”

How Dell’s possible equity buyout may or may not affect Vitagliano’s job responsibilities is anybody’s guess at this point, but for now, it is business as usual until otherwise notified.

Since word surfaced in March that Vitagliano would be leaving networking vendor Juniper (NYSE: JNPR) after six years as senior vice president of Americas partner sales, industry buzz has grown louder about where he might land, especially considering his considerable experience and strong reputation in the channel. Before his tenure at Juniper, Vitagliano put in 33 years at IBM (NYSE: IBM), where, in 1994 he was named channel marketing director for IBM PCs. In 2000, Vitagliano was upped to IBM distribution channels management vice president and two years later tapped as IBM worldwide distribution channels vice president.

To make room for Vitagliano, Jim Defoe, who has served as Dell channel sales vice president for the past two years, now will lead the vendor’s large VAR, DMR and global systems integrator team for North America, based on a strategy he crafted to work with that class of partner.

“We think there is a huge opportunity to invest in more relationship programs and resources to continue this growth,” said Davis. “I am excited to announce that Jim will lead our strategy and the team focused on our large VARs, DMRs and global systems integrators in North America.”

Defoe is a 27-year sales and service IT veteran, the last 15 of which have been at Dell, initially as healthcare and life sciences organization sales vice president prior to moving to the channels unit. Before joining Dell, Defoe managed CompuCom regional offices in Denver and Salt Lake City.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) has turned to an internal top services and customer segment marketing executive to lead its partner-facing marketing initiatives, tapping Sherri Liebo as its new global partner marketing vice president, filling a slot vacant since last summer after Amanda Jobbins unexpectedly left the networking giant.

Liebo, who joined Cisco in 2005 after a 16-year stint at Hewlett-Packard‘s (NYSE: HPQ) partner marketing organization, will take on “ultimate responsibility for Cisco’s global partner marketing programs and initiatives,” according to Bruce Klein, Cisco Worldwide Partner Organization senior vice president, who disclosed her ascension in a blog post. Liebo will report to Klein and Karen Walker, Cisco senior Marketing vice president, who has filled the post in the interim.

Specifically, Liebo will oversee Cisco’s strategic partner marketing, channel programs, services partner marketing and strategic partner communications teams. Those units collaborate with the Worldwide Partner Group, sales teams and regional marketing to drive partner growth and profitability.

Liebo’s reach also will extend to Cisco’s Velocity partner marketing conference (slated for April 16-18 in Cannes, France) and the offerings and co-marketing resources available on Cisco’s Partner Central site, Klein said. The newly appointed Liebo is expected to meet and greet Cisco partners at the Velocity event.

Her most prominent role at Cisco to this point has been to lead marketing for Cisco Services, the vendor’s $10 billion global services business. In addition, she has served as Services and Service Provider Marketing vice president and Customer Segments Marketing vice president.

Klein credited Liebo with creating and managing the launch of Smart Care, Cisco’s SMB-centric vehicle for add-on service sales.

It will be interesting to see if Liebo can make an immediate splash in much the same manner as Jobbins, who, herself, had large shoes to fill in replacing Luanne Tierney, the Velocity conference architect who left Cisco in 2011 to take a similar position at Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR). Jobbins has resurfaced as chief marketing officer at Sage Group.

“We’ve been without a full-time global partner marketing lead since last fall, and I personally want to thank Karen Walker, senior vice president of Cisco marketing, for leading the effort to keep our partner marketing programs strong during that transition,” Klein wrote.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has hired former Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) Channel Chief Judson Althoff. According to a Microsoft press release, Althoff will become president, North America Sales and Marketing, and corporate VP. Althoff’s leap to Microsoft, effective March 29, comes only a few days after Oracle announced disappointing Q3 2013 earnings. This could be a huge win for Microsoft as the company attempts to position against Oracle for enterprise database, Big Data and social business opportunities.

According to the official statement from Microsoft:

“Althoff will manage a team of sales, marketing and services professionals across the United States and Canada, within a division that was a significant contributor to Microsoft’s US$73 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2013.

A business technology leader with more than 18 years of experience, Althoff previously served as senior vice president of worldwide alliances and channels and embedded sales at Oracle Corp., where he led worldwide indirect and embedded sales. During his 14 years at Oracle, Althoff held a number of senior positions, including group vice president for worldwide alliances, and vice president of global platform and distribution sales. Before Oracle, he held several sales leadership roles at EMC Corp.

“Judson has a track record of successfully developing, growing and leading global sales organizations with a culture of execution excellence,” said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft. “Judson’s proven leadership will enable us to continue to excel in delivering the best devices and services experience to our customers including businesses and consumers.”

Althoff will assume his new role at Microsoft on March 29, 2013, reporting to Turner.”

You read it right: Althoff has a direct line to Turner, meaning that he is part of Microsoft’s inner executive circle the day he starts. We are checking with Oracle to determine if the company has named a new channel chief.