Ex-Cisco Services Channel Chief Lands At Avaya

Karl Meulema, whose last role at Cisco was senior vice president, global strategy and operations, joined Avaya in late August as vice president, global services and partners. An Avaya spokesperson confirmed Meulema's hire to CRN and that he reports to Michael Runda, Avaya senior vice president and president, Avaya Client Services (ACS). Meulema is based out of Avaya's Santa Clara, Calif., office and leads ACS global theaters as well as the channel program team for services.

Channel services should be familiar territory for Meulema, who headed channels, then marketing and channels, then global strategy and operations for Avaya arch-nemesis Cisco's sprawling services business over a seven-year period.

[Related: Hit Parade: 15 Notable Cisco Executive Departures ]

Meulema in 2009 became senior vice president, global strategy and operations and then took an early retirement package from Cisco during its corporate restructuring in 2011. Earlier in his career, Meulema spent eight years in sales and marketing roles at HP.

Meulema was part of a slew of major executive departures from Cisco in the past year. Avaya has also seen extensive executive turnover of late, with a number of C-, SVP- and VP-level Avaya executives having left in recent months and several more having joined.

Avaya's previous head of Global Services (later ACS), Mohamad Ali, left the company in March and was succeeded by Runda in May. Another Avaya services executive, Carelyn Monroe, former vice president of global partner support services, left the company in August.

PUBLISHED SEPT. 10, 2012