Category: People on the Move

As expected, Microsoft (MSFT) today played the three key pieces in its grand plan, naming 22-year company veteran Satya Nadella as the third chief executive in its 38-year history, shifting board director John Thompson to chairman and sliding Bill Gates to technology advisor.

Microsoft credited Nadella, formerly the company’s Cloud and Enterprise group executive vice president, with leading “major strategy and technical shifts across the company’s portfolio of products and services,” heading its move to the cloud and shepherding significant growth in the vendor’s Server and Tools Business to some $20 billion annually.

In an email to employees, Nadella made it clear where he intends to take the company: “Our industry does not respect tradition—it only respects innovation. This is a critical time for the industry and for Microsoft. Make no mistake, we are headed for greater places—as technology evolves and we evolve with and ahead of it. Our job is to ensure that Microsoft thrives in a mobile and cloud-first world.”

Gates takes the new title of Founder and Technology Advisor, and will focus on the company’s technology and product direction and serve as Nadella’s advisor, a function the new chief reportedly requested as a condition to take the job.

“During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella,” said Gates, in a statement. “Satya is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision and the ability to bring people together. His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth.”

Outgoing boss Steve Ballmer, who retains a board seat in the shuffle, wrote in an email to employees posted on the vendor’s website: “Satya is a proven leader. He’s got strong technical skills and great business insights. He has a remarkable ability to see what’s going on in the market, to sense opportunity, and to really understand how we come together at Microsoft to execute against those opportunities in a collaborative way.”

Thompson, the former Symantec (SYMC) chief and IBM (IBM) top executive, who’s held a seat on Microsoft’s board for two years, was said to be reluctant to take the chairman’s slot. But some viewed the move as important to the company’s establishing new leadership under Nadella’s command.

“Satya is clearly the best person to lead Microsoft, and he has the unanimous support of our board,” Thompson said. “The board took the thoughtful approach that our shareholders, customers, partners and employees expected and deserved.”

Ballmer, who has presided over Microsoft since 2000, takes with him a long legacy easily recognizable by a boisterous, unmistakable passion that framed the company’s take-no-prisoners culture. Nadella is said to be a far different personality and it will be interesting to see if his reputation for presenting a calm, considerate and collaborative approach prevails in remodeling the company’s long-entrenched persona.

The knock on Nadella is that he’s never run a company of Microsoft’s size, depth and breadth and it is here where Microsoft may miss Ballmer’s business sense. That Nadella will have Gates nearby to advise him will help, but whether that makes up for his lack of experience in this area remains an open question.

Red Hat (RHT) Global Channel Sales Senior Vice President Mark Enzweiler told us yesterday that the company is still searching for a new channel chief, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been movement.

The company began its search after Roger Egan, the company’s former chief, moved on to open source engine Docker.

While Enzweiler would not comment on possible candidates, he did provide the following updates for partners:

• The list of candidates has been narrowed down to just under 10
• Enzweiler said he has been speaking with candidates during his time at the conference, but has been doing so over the phone
• Red Hat is looking at internal and external candidates
• After Red Hat hires a new chief, the company’s channel strategy will stay on its course
• Enzweiler would like to new hire to start ASAP

Enzweiler also noted that the interest in the channel chief position has been high — something he is very pleased with.

Red Hat North America Channel Sales and Alliances Senior Director Bob Wilson and Red Hat North America Channel Sales Senior Director Jerry Lumpkin are sharing Egan’s former responsibilites until the company hires a new channel chief.

Red Hat (RHT) Channel Chief Roger Egan is moving on to Docker, an open source engine.

According to Egan’s LinkedIn profile, his new role at Docker is senior vice president of Channel and Sales.

Docker is an open source engine that automates the deployment of any application as a lightweight, portable, self-sufficient container that will run virtually anywhere.

A Red Hat spokesperson said Red Hat is “now actively searching for a new head of North America channel sales.”

Until Red Hat names a replacement, Bob Wilson, Red Hat senior director of North America channel sales, and Jerry Lumpkin, Red Hat senior director of North America channel sales, will share Egan’s responsibilities, the spokesperson said.

Egan’s exit comes just ahead of the 2014 Red Hat Partner Summit, slated for Jan. 13-15 in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was hired by Mark Enzweiler, vice president of Global Channels and Alliances for Red Hat, back in 2007.

“Enzweiler has said publicly that when Egan told him he was leaving, he had mixed emotions,” the spokesperson said. “While he was sad to see Roger leave, he recognized this was a great opportunity for him.”

The spokesperson added that Egan officially left Red Hat on Friday, Jan. 3.

Stay tuned for further coverage.

IBM (IBM) has tapped Tami Duncan as the company’s new North American channel chief, an IBM spokesperson confirmed for us.

According to Duncan’s LinkedIn profile, she most recently held the role of client advocacy executive at IBM, where she coordinated and managed client interactions for IBM CEO Virginia M. Rometty.

Duncan also held a variety of positions over the years at IBM, including North American director of sales, which required her to manage a team that delivered sales, as well as hardware, software and services, through Avnet and their downstream IBM Business Partners, according to her LinkedIn profile.

The IBM spokesperson noted that Duncan’s new role and her plans for the channel will be revealed during this year’s IBM PartnerWorld Leadership Conference, Feb. 10 to 13, in Las Vegas.

Will Duncan address any of the challenges that IBM must overcome to thrive in 2014? We’ll stay on top of the coverage.

Security vendor Fortinet (FTNT) has sued smaller rival Sophos, claiming it has been victimized by executive poaching in violation of an existing agreement tied to a key departure from the vendor’s management ranks earlier this year.

The lawsuit, filed Dec. 16 in San Jose, Calif., in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, alleges that Michael Valentine, a former Fortinet top executive who joined Sophos in April as its Worldwide Sales vice president, engineered subsequent, similar moves by a number of his colleagues. The complaint points specifically to three Fortinet employees who left at the same time and another a few months later to join Sophos.

In April, Kendra Krause, Fortinet’s former Channel Sales and Operations vice president, joined Sophos as its new channel chief. Krause is not named in the lawsuit.

Fortinet’s complaint, in which it asks for a jury trial and damages, alleges Valentine breached a clause in his contract upon his exit from the company. According to the court filing, as reported by PC World, Valentine agreed that for “twelve months from this date, I will not directly or indirectly solicit, induce, recruit or encourage any of [Fortinet’s] employees to leave their employment.”

In addition to alleging Valentine broke his deal with Fortinet, the company also is claiming Sophos has infringed on three of its security technology-related patents, which PC World report listed as U.S. patents 7,698,744, “Secure system for following the execution of authorized computer program code”; and U.S. patents 8,069,487 and 8,195,938, “Cloud-based application whitelisting.”

Sophos Responds

In response to the lawsuit, Sophos chief Kris Hagerman, in a lengthy blog post, wrote, “We have great respect for Fortinet as a company and as a competitor. But they’ve got this one all wrong.”

Hagerman dismissed what he called “Fortinet’s attempt to retain employees by restricting their freedom to join a successful company like Sophos (or any other company).” He further chided Fortinet, saying if it “wishes to retain their employees we suggest they stop resorting to courtroom and legal tactics they know are without merit, and instead consider what it is that makes Sophos such a desirable place to work.”

The Sophos boss followed with a list of Sophos’ advantages, including its product vision, channel-centric approach and “winning” strategy. Pointing to Sophos’ outpacing the market with a 23 percent uptick in UTM billings in the past two quarters and 12 percent overall growth in the period, he said, “It shouldn’t be a surprise that people want to work for a company like Sophos that is gaining share and making a difference in the market.”

Hagerman closed his blog by adding fuel to the fire.

“I assure you that Sophos will not let ill-conceived and meritless lawsuits stand in the way of delivering powerful IT security solutions,” he said. “Lawsuits like this only confirm that our strategy is attracting the right talent to deliver the products that will keep our customers safe.”

And, he invited worthy candidates to come on over.

“If you think you have what it takes, I invite you to join our cause by applying here.”

This could make for an interesting legal proceeding.

Cloud platform and hosting services provider Internap (INAP) has named Joseph Stagliano, a former Broadview sales director, as its new channel chief, according to a blog post by Stephen Callahan, the company’s Global Sales senior vice president.

Stagliano, whose official title is Global Channel Sales vice president, brings 12 years of channel development and management experience to the job with a sound background in sales and operations. In addition to his six-year stint at VoIP specialist Broadview, Stagliano served as agent sales director at InfoHighway Communications for about eight years following a 10-year tenure at Verizon Telecom (VZ), where he held a number of product and operations management posts.

“Joe’s unique combination of technical expertise and sales leadership gives Internap an opportunity to build on the accomplishments of our channel program and continue to nurture and grow our relationships with partners,” said Callahan.

Internap’s Performance Partner program supports channel partners acting as resellers or agents in an extension of the company’s sales force—representing its line of cloud, hosting, colocation and hybrid services. The vendor also offers a Referral Program for partners to refer its services to customers in exchange for a fee.

Participants in the vendor’s Performance Partner program are eligible for an enablement package that includes marketing tools, access to sales and technical consultants, a dedicated partner representative, training and what Internap calls a “residual commission for playing an active role in securing Internap business.” Members include interactive advertising agencies, CMS providers, MSPs, commercial real estate agents, IT consultants, Web developers, SIs and VARs.

In late October, Internap bought iWeb, a Montreal-based hosting and cloud provider, for some $145 million, in a deal it expects will balloon its annual sales to more than $320 million and extend its reach further into the SMB market and international sales. In its FY 2013 ended Sept. 30, iWeb posted $44 million in sales.

Internap is slated to present to investors on Dec. 11 at the UBS 41st Annual Global Media and Communications Conference in New York.

Distributor Westcon Group has dipped into the B2B and logistics services industry to appoint Dolph Westerbos to its chief executive slot effective Jan. 1, 2014, succeeding Dean Douglas, who’s leaving the company after a nearly five-year stint at the helm.

Westerbos is a 20-year veteran in B2B services and channels, who most recently served as Asia Pacific and EMEA group president for Brambles and its CHEP subsidiary, a publicly held, Sydney, Australia-based company specializing in pallet and container pooling solutions and related logistics services. He is regarded as a specialist in B2B services, supply chain and asset management and business process outsourcing.

In succeeding Douglas, Westerbos has big shoes to fill. Douglas, who is leaving for what Westcon described as “another business opportunity,” is a highly regarded IT executive with more than 30 years of industry experience under his belt, including telecommunications and wireless expertise.

Westcon is banking on Westerbos’ B2B services, operations and emerging market experience to pick up where Douglas left off and then some. Westerbos is tasked with building Westcon’s value-added distribution profile beyond the company’s current $4 billion in sales and extending its reach in growth markets.

“Dolph has a great track record of managing organizations that couple premier technology-based solutions and services, built on strong operational capabilities,” said Jens Montanana, Datatec chief executive. Westcon is Datatec’s IT distribution subsidiary. “Combined with his global background and experience in emerging markets, this makes him a great fit to take Westcon’s market leadership even further.”

Westerbos is credited with generating some $2 billion in services revenue at Brambles and leading the company’s market strategy, product development and global customer organizations. His background also includes a four-year stint at Dell starting in 2006 as Netherlands managing director and progressing to Western Europe Channels director and ultimately EMEA Solutions and Services vice president.

While at Dell, Westerbos was credited with guiding its managed services, consulting and data center products business to some $2.5 billion in sales and establishing the vendor’s channel business in Western Europe.

Before Dell, Westerbos held a 12-year tenure at BPO specialist ModusLink (MLNK) in management, operations, technology and sales roles.

“Westcon’s success is based on an ability to deliver real-world technology solutions and services that target the most difficult challenges facing the data center, network, security, and unified communications marketplaces,” said Westerbos. “I’m excited to be joining the company at this pivotal time to accelerate its next stage of growth.”

It didn’t take Dell long after closing its $24.8 billion private equity buyout to shake things up. On Nov. 18, the vendor appointed a new global channel chief, restructured its sales operation and named a new head of its North American organization.

In an emailed letter to channel partners, Greg Davis, Dell partner program founder and channel chief since the program’s formal inception in 2007, said Cheryl Cook, formerly Dell’s Enterprise Solutions vice president, will assume the channel leadership role as Global Channels and Alliances vice president.

Davis will move to Software and Peripherals as vice president.

“Cheryl brings a wealth of experience in Enterprise Technology sales, both direct and Channel sales to the role,” Davis wrote in his note to partners. In addition to leading Dell’s enterprise go-to-market strategy and sales coverage, Cook’s background includes a stint as Americas sales senior vice president at Sun Microsystems, where she headed Sun’s Americas channel organization.

In her new role, Cook is responsible for defining and delivering innovative channel programs, training and certification, global marketing programs and supplying a steady hand to the vendor’s channel, alliances, strategic ISVs and OEMs.

Sales Restructuring

Dell also has restructured how channel sales fits into its overall sales operation, placing direct and indirect sales under one umbrella in effort to improve sales engagements in the field and set a stronger foundation for channel sales.

“We’ve heard from you that there was room to improve engagement with Dell’s core sales teams,” wrote Davis, “So, as the next step in our growth together we are moving our channel sales organization deeper into Dell’s regional organizational structure.”

Here’s what’s changing with the channels reorganization:

• Regional channel leaders now will report to regional Dell sales leadership. In North America, Channels Vice President Frank Vitagliano and Global Commercial Channel Sales and Programs Vice President Jim DeFoe now report to Dell’s head of North American sales.
• Similarly, Laurent Binetti in EMEA and Richard Lee in Asia Pacific/Japan will report to regional sales leads.

Staying the same:

• Channel strategy of focusing on the data center, investing in training, ease of doing business and partnership stays as it was.
• PartnerDirect will stay as the umbrella program for end-to-end and point solutions.

Davis said that by directing Dell’s regional channel heads to report to regional sales, “they will be able to integrate more closely with our sales and product teams, which will allow for faster feedback between partners and business unit leaders.” Translated: Dell is trying to shore up its field engagement to reduce channel conflict and strengthen channel sales.

According to a CRN report, Dell also named Bill Rodrigues, formerly its Global Business vice president and general manager and a 14-year company veteran, as president of Dell North America, a business unit that accounted for some $24 billion in revenue in 2012. Vitagliano and DeFoe will report to Rodrigues, according to the account. Rodrigues replaces Paul Henri Ferrand, who held the post for the past 16 months, the report said.

“It’s been a privilege to work with you all to build Dell’s channel program from the ground up,” wrote Davis. “Your input has played a vital role in bringing us to this point today where the PartnerDirect program is strong and stable enough to push further into Dell’s go-to-market strategy.”