Enterasys Hires New Worldwide Sales Exec

Michael Rivers, formerly vice president of worldwide sales and business development at Inkra Networks, a Fremont, Calif.-based security switch vendor, was hired to take over Santullo's role as executive vice president of worldwide sales and services.

Santullo, who joined Enterasys last fall, is leaving to pursue other opportunities, the company said.

Santullo's departure, the latest in a series of executive turnovers at Andover, Mass.-based Enterasys, left some solution providers wondering if the vendor can execute on plans to improve channel partnerships.

"The question is, can you deliver on your promise and dedication to the channel when there's constant churning and burning at the top?" said Michael Simmons, president of MAS Enterprises, a Las Vegas-based solution provider. "The field [sales force] has a tendency to go out on their own without that constant leadership."

In the seven years that MAS Enterprises has partnered with Enterasys, the vendor has gone through at least four CEOs, four presidents and seven top sales executives, Simmons said.

Another solution provider who attended last week's conference said that high-level executive changes aren't cause for concern but wondered why Santullo held such a prominent role at the partner event.

"I have to look at what really affects us," said Amir Sohrabi, executive vice president at Managed Solutions Planning Xperts (MSPX), Arlington, Va. "We see [Enterasys'] senior management twice a year, so really it comes down to the local level."

MSPX's local and regional contacts at the vendor have remained stable amid the wave of senior management changes, Sohrabi said.

Santullo gave a keynote address and emceed the Enterasys 2004 Americas Partner Conference earlier this month because the company wanted to come across as a sales-driven organization, said Bob Ray, vice president of marketing at Enterasys.

"[Santullo] was a good sales leader, but he didn't have specific industry experience," Ray said.

Rivers' combination of extensive sales and network industry experience,including stints at Nortel Networks, Bay Networks and Synoptics,made him an attractive prospect, Ray said.

Enterasys remains on track to roll out its revamped partner program April 1, Ray added.