Cisco Seeking New U.S. Channel Chief

"What Chuck has really brought to the role is a lot of passion and enthusiasm for the channel. He's an extremely effective communicator, and when I say communicator, I mean he's an extremely good listener to the partner community and then a very strong communicator and advocate back into Cisco for the partners," Goodwin said.

He also credited Robbins as an innovator who spearheaded initiatives such as Cisco's push to help channel partners address the IT talent shortage and the creation of Cisco Velocity, an event held last week to help partners better market themselves.

Jere Brown, CEO of Dimension Data Americas, New York, said Robbins' leadership and channel advocacy has improved the vendor's channel organization and benefited partners.

"Chuck has been a very strong leader. He knows our business, understands partners and our customers, and he's helped drive quite a bit of innovation across the channel organization and helped the channel organization evolve," Brown said.

Which isn't to say there isn't more work left to do. Robbins' successor will have to face a whole new set of challenges compared to those Robbins tackled when he took the job in 2002, Brown said.

"There's consolidation now in the channel marketplace. The economy is different now than it's been for the past several years. The service provider segment is different. The channel dynamics are very different," Brown said.

Brown said he hopes the new North American channel chief will continue Cisco's efforts to add automation, operational efficiency and Web-based tools to its channel programs.

"We're still doing a lot of things manually," he said.

Calence's Fong said he'll be watching very carefully for the naming of Robbins' replacement. "When that person does come in, do they try to put a different imprint on the channel and where it's going, and is that good or bad for us?"

Goodwin tried to assuage partners' uneasiness over the unknown.

"Don't be concerned. Clearly the intent is to replace Chuck with a strong leader that can build on the success that Chuck has had, develop the close relationships Chuck has developed and be the good listener that Chuck has been," Goodwin said.