Channel Mourns Loss Of A Vocal Advocate

Norton was co-founder, executive vice president and COO of Select, a $75 million infrastructure solution provider in Westwood, Mass. Industry veterans remembered Norton as a vocal channel advocate who was known as much for his expertise as his willingness to speak his mind.

"Some guys are vocal, and you have to tune them out. But other guys who are vocal are pretty much spot-on with their observations and are more willing to tell the king that he has no clothes, and Bob was definitely one of those," said John Freres, president of Meridian IT Solutions, a Schaumburg, Ill.-based solution provider, recalling the many Cisco Systems partner councils he and Norton attended.

Chuck Robbins, vice president of U.S. channels at San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco, lauded Norton for his knowledge of the channel business.

"Bob was always great for providing feedback on our channel initiatives. When we missed the mark, he would let us know, and if he told us we had things right, we really knew we had them right," Robbins said via e-mail. "His expertise will be missed tremendously."