People on the Move

Websense Taps Former RSA Exec as Global Channel Sales Chief

Web security vendor Websense has named Shawn Pearson, a former channel sales executive at EMC’s (EMC) RSA security division, as its new worldwide channel sales chief and charged him with driving adoption of the company’s flagship Triton platform among partners.

Pearson, whose official title is worldwide channel sales vice president, commands a 17-year security channel […]

ShoreTel Names New CEO, Betters Q4 Results

Unified communications provider ShoreTel (SHOR) named Don Joos, the company’s current Global Services vice president, as its new president and chief executive, succeeding Peter Blackmore, who’s retiring after nearly three years on the job in which he doubled sales, scaled global operations and boosted the company’s growth.

ShoreTel announced Joos’s ascension at the same time […]

Flash Storage Maker Taps Ex-EMC Exec to Lead Worldwide Channels

Flash storage maker Virident Systems has tapped Dawn Ruszel, a former EMC (EMC) partner sales manager, as Worldwide Channels senior director.

With flash storage gaining in the marketplace as prices come down, the technology is fast becoming a must-have for solutions-oriented partners. VIrident is moving from relying on its direct sales team to incorporating partners […]

Cisco Taps Sage for Americas Distribution VP Post

Cisco Systems  (CSCO) has tapped Andrew Sage, its former worldwide Partner Led vice president and Small Business Sales vice president, as its new Americas Distribution vice president, taking Julie Hens’ former post when she was elevated to Worldwide Distribution vice president last week.

Wendy Bahr, Cisco Americas Partner Organization senior vice president, in co-authoring a […]

Dimension Data Appoints New Americas Chief

IT solutions and services provider Dimension Data has named Mark Slaga, a 13-year company veteran, as chief executive of its Americas operation.

Slaga, who was promoted from his chief operating officer (COO) slot, will succeed Jere Brown, who is retiring at the end of the year after seven years in the Americas top slot and […]

Cisco Taps Hens for Worldwide Distribution VP

Cisco Systems (CSCO) last week promoted Julie Hens to handle its distribution-related programs and relationships worldwide, a responsibility Edison Peres, the vendor’s worldwide channels senior vice president, called a “critical piece of our go-to-market channel strategy, representing $13 billion a year in revenue for Cisco.”

Hens, whose new title officially is Worldwide Distribution vice president, […]

Red Hat Hires Former VMware Exec to Handle Global Alliances

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 […]

Lucovsky Rejoins VMware for Mega Cloud Platform Project

Mark Lucovsky has rejoined VMware (NYSE: VMW). He had been working on Cloud Foundry, which VMware is spinning off as part of the Pivotal Initiative. The move comes ahead of VMware’s Q4 2012 earnings, which are set to be announced later today.

Chatter about Lucovsky’s apparent career shift surfaced on GigaOm, where seasoned reporter Barb […]

Cisco, McAfee Channel Pro Alex Thurber Joins Watchguard

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 […]

New VMware Channel Chief Must Tackle Mobile, Cloud Opportunities

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 […]