CRN Channel Madness: Round 2 Winners And Losers

On To The Enterprise Eight

The votes are in and the Solutions 16 have given it their all. Voting for Round 2 of the CRN Channel Madness Tournament of Chiefs Kicked off last Thursday and continued strong through to the final buzzer.

While the Solutions 16 matchups were more one-sided than what we saw in Round 1, there was still plenty of madness. The Round 2 matchups showcased a buzzer beater, some channel veterans flexing their longevity muscles and we even had a few statement wins by chiefs that some considered to be underdogs heading into the tournament.

Voting for Round 3 opens Tuesday, March 31 at 4:00 PM ET. Visit CRN.com/madness to cast your vote and choose your chiefs. Find out who survived Round 2 of the CRN Channel Madness Tournament of Chiefs and punched their ticket to the Enterprise Eight.

Infrastructure – Round 2

Jim Ritchings, F5 Networks vs. Herve Tardy, Eaton

Things kicked off in the Solutions 16 Infrastructure region with F5 Networks' Jim Ritchings squaring off with Eaton's Herve Tardy. While the matchup was tight throughout, Ritchings, senior vice president of worldwide channels at F5, jumped out to an early lead and never relented. Ritchings held off Eaton's vice president and general manager to secure a 58 percent to 42 percent victory.

According to Ritchings, the ultimate goal for F5 is to triple its channel partners in 2015. For now, Ritchings will rely on the F5 partner-base to get him through the Enterprise Eight.

Infrastructure – Round 2

Sue Barsamian, Hewlett-Packard vs. Shannon Sbar, APC by Schneider Electric

Ritchings' dance partner at the Enterprise 8 will be Shannon Sbar, vice president, channels at APC by Schneider Electric. In a tight Round 2 battle, Sbar outlasted Sue Barsamian, senior vice president of worldwide indirect sales at HP, to secure a 56 percent to 44 percent victory. Sbar was initially behind by 10 points on Friday but gained steam over the weekend and never looked back.

With the win over Barsamian, Sbar has now taken out chiefs at HP and Cisco.

Hardware - Round 2

Thomas Stanley, NetApp vs. Mike Valentine, Sophos

Recovering from a slow start, Sophos Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales Mike Valentine stormed back to lock up a huge Round 2 victory over Thomas Stanley. Stanley, senior vice president of global partner sales and alliances at NetApp, took a slim 51 percent to 49 percent lead over Valentine in the first day of voting. But Valentine stormed back over the weekend and ultimately secured a 58 percent to 42 percent win.

Valentine and his 30 years of channel experience have earned a trip to the Enterprise Eight.

Hardware - Round 2

Ron Gill, Ruckus vs. Cheryl Cook, Dell

Mike Valentine will face another chief with impressive wins over big name vendor chiefs, Ruckus Wireless' Ron Gill. Gill, vice president, Americas, enterprise sales at Ruckus held off Cheryl Cook, vice president of global channel alliances, 51 percent to 49 percent. Cook was down by 10 points yesterday and while she surged in the final minutes, she ultimately came up just a bit short.

Gill can now add a victory over to Dell to his bragging rights, which already includes a Round 1 win over HP's Jos Brenkel.

Cloud - Round 2

Frank Rauch, VMware vs. Justin Moore, Axcient

The first matchup in Round 2 of the Cloud region was very tight out of the gate, with VMware's Frank Rauch clinging to a 51 percent to 49 percent lead over Axcient's Justin Moore. But Rauch, vice president of VMware's Americas partner organization, got the support he needed over the weekend and never looked back. Rauch scored a 60 percent to 40 percent victory over Moore and received more overall votes than any other channel chief in Round 2 of the tournament.

Cloud - Round 2

Adam Famularo, Verizon vs. Dave O'Callaghan, VMware

We won't see any office awkwardness at VMware in the Enterprise Eight as Adam Famularo kept the Verizon train rolling over Dave O'Callaghan, senior vice president of VMware's global partner organization, preventing a VMware-VMware face-off in the next round. Famularo, vice president of global channels at Verizon, jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, ultimately securing a 56 percent to 44 percent win.

Famularo will look to continue his dominance as he squares off with Frank Rauch in the Enterprise Eight.

Software - Round 2

Marc Dupaquier, IBM vs. Phil Sorgen, Microsoft

Wrapping up Round 2 with the Software region, IBM's Marc Dupaquier rode his social media support wave to a huge victory over Microsoft's Phil Sorgen. Dupaquier, general manager of global business partners at IBM, punched his ticket to the Enterprise Eight with a 62 percent to 38 percent win over Sorgen, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Group.

Dupaquier rallied support from his Twitter followers in the first two rounds of the tournament and will likely need a similar following as he's set to face another one of Redmond's finest in the Enterprise Eight.

Software - Round 2

Tom Flink, Citrix vs. Jenni Flinders, Microsoft

Microsoft's Jenni Flinders will get a chance to avenge Phil Sorgen's demise after securing a trip to the Enterprise Eight with a win over Citrix's Tom Flink. Flinders, vice president, U.S. SMS&P, U.S. partner business at Microsoft, maintained a comfortable lead throughout the matchup, ultimately securing a 57 percent to 43 percent win over Flink, vice president of channels and market development at Citrix.

A Look Ahead: Infrastructure - Round 3

Jim Ritchings, F5 Networks vs. Shannon Sbar, APC by Schneider Electric

Voting for Round 3 of the CRN Channel Madness Tournament of Chiefs kicks off March 31 at 4:00 PM ET. In the Infrastructure region, F5 Networks' Jim Ritchings is pitted against Shannon Sbar of APC by Schneider Electric. Ritchings followed up his impressive Round 1 victory over Cisco's Bruce Klein with a win over Eaton's Herve Tardy. Sbar earned her trip to the Enterprise 8 with a Cisco victory of her own, topping Edison Peres in Round 1. She then set her sights on HP, disposing of Sue Barsamian in Round 2.

Ritchings and Sbar will square off in Round 3 to determine the winner of the Infrastructure region.

Hardware - Round 3

Mike Valentine, Sophos vs. Ron Gill, Ruckus

Sophos' Mike Valentine has shown serious endurance thus far in the tournament. Valentine trailed both Intel's Maurits Tichelman and NetApp's Thomas Stanley early on only to churn out big-time victories. Valentine will look to keep the momentum going as he faces off against Ron Gill of Ruckus in this Hardware region Enterprise Eight matchup.

Gill is riding some momentum of his own, adding a Round 2 victory over Dell's Cheryl Cook to a resume that already included a victory over HP's Jos Brenkel.

Valentine and Gill will duke it out to see what chief will stand as the champion of the Hardware region.

Cloud - Round 3

Frank Rauch, VMware vs. Adam Famularo, Verizon

Hot streaks can go a long way in tournaments and Verizon's Adam Famularo is heating up. After disposing of NetSuite's Craig West, Famularo turned his attention VMware, eliminating Dave O'Callaghan in the Solutions 16. Famularo will get another shot at VMware in the Enterprise 8 as he faces off against Frank Rauch. Rauch is coming off of a big win over Axcient's Justin Moore and is currently the top vote getter for the entire tournament.

Famularo and Rauch will square off in Round 3 to determine who will represent the Cloud region in the quarterfinal.

Software - Round 3

Marc Dupaquier, IBM vs. Jenni Flinders, Microsoft

The Enterprise Eight wraps up with a battle of two channel heavyweights -- IBM's Marc Dupaquier and Microsoft's Jenni Flinders. Dupaquier punched his ticket to the Enterprise Eight with impressive victories over Red Hat's Mark Enzweiler and Microsoft's Phil Sorgen.

To get past the Enterprise Eight, Flinders will have to do what her Microsoft compatriot could not -- take down Dupaquier. Flinders is riding some impressive victories of her own, checking off matchups against Palo Alto's Ron Myers and Citrix's Tom Flink in the win column.

Dupaquier and Flinders will battle in Round 3 to see who will represent the Software region against the winner of the Cloud region.

The Enterprise 8

Round 3 voting in CRN Channel Madness opens March 31 at 4:00 PM ET and will remain open until Thursday April 2 at noon ET. Visit CRN.com/madness to cast your votes and choose your chiefs.