A well-known executive in Cisco's channel ranks has left the networking titan to take over as head of U.S. sales for Comstor, the Cisco business unit of distributor Westcon Group.
Geoff Fancher, a 17-year Cisco veteran and most recently vice president, U.S. field partner organization, is now a Comstor senior vice president, reporting into Westcon Group CEO Dean Douglas. He holds P&L responsibility across Comstor's U.S. business.
"As Geoff boasts more than 17 years of experience at Cisco -- with a proven ability to develop, align and execute key channel strategies -- he's a perfect fit to bring us into our next stage of growth," Douglas said in a statement.
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Fancher is well-known to Cisco partners and consistently lauded for his field-level engagement. Among other notables, he ran Cisco's Channel Advisory Board (CCAB) and was a fixture at partner events. He rose through the Cisco sales ranks starting as an account manager in 1995.
"He's leaving the Cisco family but not going too far," Wendy Bahr, Cisco senior vice president, Americas Partner Organization, told CRN this week. "Obviously Comstor is a very important relationship for Cisco."
The global Comstor Worldwide business, which was formed by consolidating various regional Comstor units in 2009, represents about half of Westcon's roughly $4 billion in revenue. It accounts for more than $700 million in revenue in the U.S.
Fancher will be based at Comstor headquarters in Louisville, Colo.
"I’ve always considered Comstor one of Cisco’s strongest partner relationships. Our team was consistently impressed with their deep knowledge of Cisco technology, along with a seamless ability to execute core channel strategies," Fancher said in a statement. "I firmly believe the company has what it takes to become Cisco's top distributor in the United States and am honored to help make this happen."
Westcon also confirmed that Andy Banks, most recently vice president, North America at Comstor, is shifting to a different role as Westcon vice president, North America data center practice. He now reports to Dan Papes, senior vice president, global data center and cloud solutions, and will focus on Westcon's data center and cloud computing businesses with the North America channel.
PUBLISHED OCT. 31, 2012
