2016 Channel Madness Tournament Of Chiefs: Round 2 Matchup Breakdowns

The Solutions 16

Last week, we kicked off the second-annual Channel Madness Tournament Of Chiefs by pitting 32 of the industry's most influential channel chiefs against one another in head-to-head battles.

The objective: Gain enough support from partners and peers to best your opponent and move on to Round 2.

So here we sit, with the field cut in half and several high-profile channel chief matchups now under way in Round 2 of the 2016 Channel Madness Tournament.

Voting for Round 2 closes Tuesday, March 29, at noon ET. Before you cast your votes, get some insight into the Solutions 16 matchups here.

Infrastructure -- Round 2

Scott Dunsire, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise vs. Bob Gault, Extreme

Extreme's Bob Gault is riding high into the second round of the Infrastructure region following his first-ever tournament victory. Gault came roaring back from a 14-point deficit in the last two days of voting in Round 1 to overtake Dell's Cheryl Cook 59 percent to 41 percent.

Gault will have a tall wall to climb to get Round 2 as he squares off with HPE's Scott Dunsire. Dunsire ultimately scored a 10-point Round 1 victory after multiple lead changes in his contest with SimpliVity's George Hope.

It was a strong first showing for Dunsire in the Channel Madness Tournament.

Infrastructure -- Round 2

Kerry Bailey, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise vs. Chris Morgan, Nutanix

Chris Morgan fared better than the chief representing the other hot hyper-converged startup in the Infrastructure Region. Nutanix's Morgan trailed throughout Round 1 but found a spark in the final hours to beat Cisco's Wendy Bahr by 2 points.

Morgan will draw HPE's second representative in the Infrastructure region, Kerry Bailey. Bailey charged forward in the final day of Round 1 voting to solidify a 10-point victory over EMC's Gregg Ambulos.

A win by Bailey could set up an Enterprise 8 face-off with his colleague Scott Dunsire.

Hardware -- Round 2

Sammy Kinlaw, Lenovo vs. Maurits Tichelman, Intel

The Solutions 16 kicks off in the Hardware Region with Intel's Maurits Tichelman duking it out with Lenovo's Sammy Kinlaw. Tichelman cruised through Round 1, ultimately closing out Rob McKernan of APC by Schneider Electric 61 percent to 39 percent.

Kinlaw navigated through tougher Round 1 waters in his matchup with HP Inc.'s Stephanie Dismore. But despite facing a 10-point deficit, Kinlaw roared back to secure a 28-point victory.

Intel's worldwide partner program is nearly 150,000 partners deep. Lenovo brought in $256 million in incremental revenue through the channel year over year.

Who gets to punch a dance card in the Enterprise 8?

Hardware -- Round 2

Sandra Glaser Cheek, Ruckus vs. Frank Vitagliano, Dell

The second matchup in the Infrastructure Region pits Sandra Glaser Cheek against Frank Vitagliano. Ruckus' Glaser Cheek made a strong Channel Madness tournament debut by posting a 61 percent to 39 percent win over Eaton's Curtiz Gangi. Glaser Cheek might be new to the tournament, but she's no stranger to the channel, bringing 18 years of indirect sales experience with her to Round 2.

Vitagliano has a little bit of channel seasoning of his own, logging 42 years in the indirect sales game. After suffering a tough loss in Round 1 of last year's tournament, Vitagliano pulled out the last-minute heroics to take over HP Inc.'s Jos Brenkel by 2 points.

This is definitely a matchup we'll be keeping a close eye on.

Cloud -- Round 2

Jessica Couto, Carbonite vs. Rob Rae, Datto

Round 2 in the Cloud Region gets interesting quickly. Carbonite's Jessica Couto scored a win to nab a Round 2 berth after beating Adam Famularo, who CRN first reported this week is leaving Verizon for a role as CEO of an as-of-yet unspecified software company. Datto's Rob Rae topped Amazon Web Services' Terry Wise by 30 points to a punch a Solutions 16 ticket.

Datto's partner community grew by 29 percent in the last year. Carbonite's active reseller base grew by 33 percent in the last year.

Which chief can drum up enough support from these partners to earn a trip to the Enterprise 8?

Cloud -- Round 2

Brooks McCorcle, AT&T vs. Frank Rauch, VMware

The second matchup in the Cloud Region is a big one, with AT&T's Brooks McCorcle going toe-to-toe with VMware's Frank Rauch.

McCorcle tied Sophos' Mike Valentine for the largest margin of victory in Round 1, with her 79 percent to 21 percent win over StorageCraft's Mike Kunz. The victory was a first for McCorcle in the Channel Madness tournament, as she suffered a Round 1 defeat last year to none other than Rauch.

Rauch had a big Round 1 showing of his own, topping NetSuite's Craig West 68 percent to 32 percent.

Software -- Round 2

Mark Enzweiler, Red Hat vs. Mike Valentine, Sophos

The winner of the 2015 Channel Madness tournament, Sophos' Mike Valentine, picked up right where he left off in Round 1. Valentine tallied the most overall votes in the round as he defeated Oracle's Bill Swales 79 percent to 21 percent. Valentine will look to continue riding the wave of support in Round 2 as he squares off with Red Hat's Mark Enzweiler.

Enzweiler, however, is coming in hot as he shut down Fortinet's Joe Sykora 69 percent to 31 percent.

It's hard to not view Valentine as the favorite to advance to the Enterprise 8, but Enzweiler proved in Round 1 that he is not to be taken lightly.

Software -- Round 2

Rodolpho Cardenuto, SAP vs. Phil Sorgen, Microsoft

Closing out the Solutions 16 in the Software Region are SAP's Rodolpho Cardenuto and Microsoft's Phil Sorgen.

Sorgen jumped out to an early lead over Palo Alto Networks' Ron Myers and never relented, ultimately locking down a 57 percent to 43 percent victory.

Cardenuto also posted a 14-point Round 1 victory over IBM's Marc Dupaquier.

Sorgen brings 20 years of indirect experience with him to Cardenuto's seven. But the only numbers that matter now lie in Solutions 16 votes.