Dell Assembles Channel, Sales Exec Teams To Lead Post-Merger Charge

The New Executive Lineup

Dell Technologies revealed its slate of channel and sales leaders Monday, notably making Gregg Ambulos North America channel chief.

Ambulos, formerly channel chief at EMC, will report to Dell channel chief John Byrne, and his appointment comes along with a host of other executive moves designed to streamline and unify the Dell Technologies sales and channel operations. Byrne reports directly to Marius Haas, Dell COO and president of commercial solutions.

Ambulos' appointment is also another sign that Dell, after closing its landmark $58 billion acquisition of EMC last week, intends to lean heavily on EMC's channel expertise. CRN has already reported that the company will make several program changes, including a move toward partner-led customer engagements, that mirror EMC's program.

Cheryl Cook, formerly Dell's channel chief, has been made head of partner marketing, and will not report directly to Byrne. Frank Vitagliano, Dell vice president of North America channels, has been offered several positions, but hasn't decided on whether to accept any of them.

Haas has also assembled his commercial sales leadership team, including high-profile executives Jay Parker and Bill Rodriguez. Click through to see who's been named to leadership roles and how their responsibilities are changing.

Gregg Ambulos

Dell COO and President of Commercial Solutions Marius Haas said choosing Ambulos to run the company's North America channel operation was "absolutely the right decision." Ambulos is a 20-year EMC veteran and spent the better part of 15 years as that company's channel chief.

Jim DeFoe

Byrne called DeFoe a "sales warrior with outstanding customer relationships" when he told CRN about his appointment as head of global distribution. DeFoe is a 20-year Dell veteran, and has spent almost all that time as vice president of global sales channels and programs. As head of global distribution, DeFoe will assemble his own team of regional distribution leaders.

Kimberley DeLeon

At Dell only about a year, DeLeon is one of very few new channel or sales executive appointments who hasn't been with Dell or EMC for a long stretch. DeLeon was hired last January and worked directly for former channel chief Cheryl Cook as executive director of global channel planning and programs. Prior to joining Dell, she spent about 10 years at AMD, where Byrne was once an executive. As head of global channel programs at Dell Technologies, DeLeon will be responsible for channel processes, including governance, and ensuring partners are achieving the appropriate level of certification and financial objectives, Byrne said.

Randy Huey

A 17-year Dell veteran, and an economist by trade, Huey has held several planning, marketing and strategy positions at Dell in a number of the company's divisions. Most recently, he worked directly for Haas as executive strategist. Now, as head of channel strategy, Huey will lead channel strategy and planning. He and Byrne will map out plans for partner spending and coverage across Dell and EMC, Byrne said.

Pilar Schenk

For the past year, Schenk has been working on the integration of Dell and EMC as executive director of integration. She's been with Dell for more than 15 years in a number of sales roles, including almost five years as chief of staff global sales operations. Byrne appointed her head of channel sales planning and operations.

Rounding Out The Global Team

Byrne also named a group of experienced Dell veterans to lead Dell Technologies' regional channel organization, including Ng Tian Beng as head of APJ channel sales. Beng has been with Dell 17 years, most recently as vice president and managing director, South Asia and Korea. Alvaro Camarena was made head of Latin America channel sales. Camarena has been with Dell eight years as executive director of Latin America channel programs. Michael Collins will head Dell's EMEA channel sales operation. The 14-year Dell veteran was most recently vice president of strategy and channel ,EMEA.

Marius' House

In addition to Byrne, who was named channel chief in July, Haas (pictured) named a slate of senior sales executives who will report to him, including leaders for several regions of the world and specific product lines. Like Byrne's appointments, Haas' are mostly longtime Dell executives.

Bill Rodrigues

Haas named Rodrigues president of North America Commercial Sales. Rodrigues has been at Dell for about 18 years, and was previously, president of North America and Global Sales.

Jay Parker

Parker was a marketing executive at Dell between 2003 and 2007 before spending more than seven years at Lenovo, two of them as North America president. Amid upheaval in Lenovo's executive ranks last year, Dell lured Parker back to Austin as general manager of North America enterprise systems and part of what solution providers called Haas' enterprise dream team. Now, Parker will take on a role as head of global server and networking sales.

Regional Power

Haas' regional team includes Amit Midha, a 20-year Dell employee, as head of APJ commercial sales. Midha was most recently president of Asia Pacific and Japan and chairman of global emerging markets. Haas also tapped Diego Majdalani as head of Latin America commercial sales. Majdalani has been with Dell 10 years and has been vice president and general manager of Latin America for the last four. Haas made Chenhong Huang head of Greater China commercial sales. Huang has been with Dell about two years, and spent about 14 years at Nortel Networks. As head of EMEA commercial sales, Aongus Hegarty's job doesn't change. Hegarty has been a regional sales executive at Dell for more than 11 years. Haas named Prakash Jothee as head of sales strategy planning and operations.