Ixia Hires HP Software Veteran As New Head Of Global Sales

Network security resiliency software maker Ixia has snagged a top Hewlett-Packard software sales executive, Hans-Peter Klaey, as its new senior vice president of global sales.

Klaey, a four-year HP veteran and former CEO and president of SAP Asia, takes the top sales job with the Calabasas, Calif., company in the midst of a major move to grow its channel footprint with enterprise security solution providers.

Klaey will report to Ixia CEO Bethany Mayer, a former HP senior executive who took the helm last August. Mayer has mapped out an aggressive security software channel strategy and has backed it up with a channel offensive that is winning over security partners.

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"We are doubling down on our partners," said Klaey in an interview with CRN. "We have a fantastic opportunity ahead of us with the channel. We want to leverage the channel and the partners to create new and exciting opportunities for all of us. This is a great place for partners."

Klaey said he is looking forward to working together with partners to make the channel program even better than it is today. "We're looking for feedback to create even more opportunities in the market," he said. "There is tons of opportunity, and we have lots of ideas on how we can work together with partners to make the program even more world-class than it is today."

Klaey said he was attracted to Ixia because it is a "growth story" with a unique product set. "We are in a unique position with our application performance and security resiliency portfolio from a network, design, rollout and operations perspective," he said. "We can validate the network, secure the network and optimize the network, while others are just piecemeal. We can actually do the whole enchiladas going from left to right. That is a huge opportunity for the systems integrators."

Ixia views both global systems integrators and channel partners as critical to driving sales growth, said Klaey.

Lori Cornmesser, vice president of global channel sales at Ixia, said Klaey's software industry expertise and leadership will be "instrumental in driving new growth for our partners. We are just thrilled he has chosen to join Ixia."

Cornmesser said the company is following through on its commitment to the channel with announcements like the Klaey appointment. "We are doing what we said we were going to do," she said. "He [Klaey] is going to be part of helping our partners capitalize on new opportunities with Ixia."

Klaey, for his part, said Mayer has charted a new course for the company both in partner and product commitment. "A lot has changed with Bethany," he said. "Ixia has made good progress positioning the product portfolio and our channel. We are putting more resources and investment in the channel."

Peter Larocque, president, North America Distribution for Synnex, which is teaming with Ixia, said he sees the company making all the right channel moves.

"They have spent a lot of time and money over the past six months working with us to understand the channel," he said. "They are doing all the right stuff, making the people investments and getting out of their skin to grow the channel business. It's a really good product with a tremendous long-tail opportunity, and they are committed to delivering all of the services to support the product."

PUBLISHED MARCH 23, 2015