25 Public-Sector Channel Leaders

To really leverage vendor partnerships, solution providers need an in. For the public sector, that entre has to go beyond the program to the individual behind it who understands the market nuances and challenges that can hold partners back. The following 25 public-sector channel leaders are examples of those individuals.

1. Patrick Bakey, SAP
Title: President of Public Services
Years In Position: Less than 1
Years In Public Sector: 20-plus
Most Admired In Gov't: David Walker, United States Comptroller General
Channel Philosophy: "Government agencies want two things: innovation and trusted partners. So every day, you need to show your customers your creative ideas, technologies and solutions. And you need to earn their trust through behavior that is exemplary, ethical and of the highest standards. That's something executives must drive through each and every employee in their organization."

2. Bill Bockoven, APC

Title: Director of Government and Education Sales
Years In Position: 2
Years In Public Sector: 11
Most Admired In Gov't: Sen. John McCain
Channel Philosophy: "The public sector has its own specific IT challenges, and government customers quantify success in different ways than commercial companies do. Our goal is to continue to build a trustworthy business partnership with our channel."

3. Mike Byrd, Red Hat
Title: Director of Government Channel Sales
Years In Position: 2
Years In Public Sector: 12
Most Admired In Gov't: Sue Payton, Assistant Secretary

of the Air Force
Channel Philosophy: "Create a value proposition that sets you apart from the competition and pick partners that reward you for that value proposition. Red Hat has moved past the need for assistance in the fulfillment arena, and now we're looking for partners that provide specialized value."

4. Michelle Chapin, Panasonic
Title: Director of Government Channels
Years In Position: 9
Years In Public Sector: 15
Most Admired In Gov't: Chapman's mother, a procurement official at the National Institutes of Health
Channel Philosophy: "Don't treat this business as a sidebar. The environments that many of our government folks work in can be harsh, and being able to have data at their fingertips with maximum uptime is of utmost importance. [Partners need] to be proactive with such specific customer requirements."

5. Rebecca Chisolm-Winkler, Adobe
Title: Director of Global Government Markets
Years In Position: 2
Years In Public Sector: 20
Most Admired In Gov't: Civil servants
Channel Philosophy: "[Solution providers should] pick a few key technology partners, dedicate a sales/marketing/engineering team to those partners and truly 'go to market' with those technology partners. This differentiates them from the 'sell everyone and everything' model, where price is the only discriminator."

NEXT: Cisco's Dawn Duross to Nortel's Jeff Hoagland

6. Dawn Duross, Cisco Systems

Title: Director of Federal Channels
Years In Position: 4
Years In Public Sector: 20
Most Admired In Gov't: Nancy Pelosi, first woman Speaker of the House
Channel Philosophy: "Focus on customer satisfaction with the agencies you support. It's a small community; your best advocates can be current customers and your best marketing word-of-mouth."

7. Tom Gillman, Juniper Networks

Title: Director of Federal Channels
Years In Position: 2
Years In Public Sector: 23
Most Admired In Gov't: Military volunteers
Channel Philosophy: "Avoid vendors whose loyalty lies with partners who can 'churn' a large volume of transactions just for the sake of meeting a weekly commitment. In the end, there's not a lot of margin or longevity in order entry."

8. Alex Hart, Symantec
Title: Director of State, Local and Academic Channels
Years In Position: 7
Years In Public Sector: 7
Most Admired In Gov't: IT professionals
Channel Philosophy: "The sheer size of the state, local and academic market is an automatic challenge. It's by definition a much more fragmented market space than federal because of the disparate needs of each customer and the number of decision-makers involved. But by understanding the 'why' and not just focusing on the 'how,' solution providers find innovative ways to solve problems, thereby differentiating themselves from their competition."

9. Bill Hartwell, Motorola
Title: Vice President of Government Business
Years In Position: 2-plus
Years In Public Sector: 12-plus
Most Admired In Gov't: Scott Hastings, former CIO of the Department of Homeland Security
Channel Philosophy: "The public-sector channel and customer base are very interested in solutions that combine application software, hardware and services to solve their major business issues and mission responsibilities. Partners should position themselves as subject-matter experts and provide end-to-end solutions."

10. Jeff Hoagland, Nortel
Title: Senior Vice President of Federal Channels and Integrators
Years In Position: 2
Years In Public Sector: 2
Most Admired In Gov't: No answer
Channel Philosophy: According to Nortel, solution providers need to choose vendor partners as much by rewards as technology. [VARs should go with those that offer] an industry-leading combination of support and incentives for innovation, achievement and speed to market.

NEXT: HP's Mike Humke to IBM's Emilie McCabe

11. Mike Humke, Hewlett-Packard
Title: Public Sector Director
Years In Position: Less than 1
Years In Public Sector: 15-plus
Most Admired In Gov't: No answer
Channel Philosophy: "Customers are constantly fighting budgeting battles and are being asked to provide more services. Collectively, we win when we deliver the most cost-effective solutions--solutions that lower IT costs while improving the overall ability of the government or educational facilities to deliver more services and support."

12. Curt Kolcun, Microsoft
Title: Vice President of Federal Division
Years In Position: 4
Years In Public Sector: 25
Most Admired In Gov't: Those promoting IT for the 21st century
Channel Philosophy: "This market spans an enormous range, from the largest enterprise customers in the world to the small and midsize municipalities. Each has its own mission to achieve and its unique [way of doing] business."

13. Stephanie Kuhnel, SAS

Title: Director of Government Alliances and Channels
Years In Position: 1
Years In Public Sector: 7-plus
Most Admired In Gov't: Sen. Hillary Clinton
Channel Philosophy: "The public sector must allow for legal, contractual and pricing processes that are very different from the commercial [market]; however, the reasons governments buy are [not different]. Focus, focus, focus. Value [depends] on the buying needs of the client and the selling and value of the channel itself."

14. Bob Laurence, Sybase
Title: Public Sector Vice President and General Manager
Years In Position: 2
Years In Public Sector: 20-plus
Most Admired In Gov't: No answer
Channel Philosophy: "It's not nearly enough to have the better 'mousetrap.' You need to know the 'mousetrap' requirements, and you have to prove you have successfully caught mice and can do so in large numbers. Both [vendor and solution provider will] be frustrated if our energy is defused by low-probability campaigns. If our partners have an established strength that we can complement with our technology and support, it's far more likely that we can create a foundation for long-term success."

15. Emilie McCabe, IBM

Title: General Manager of Global Public Sector
Years In Position: Less than 1
Years In Public Sector: Less than 1
Most Admired In Gov't: Proactive leaders
Channel Philosophy: "There is no question that innovation resonates with public-sector clients as a way to help address the enormous pressures they're under. Our collective challenge--like that of our public-sector clients--is to collaborate to deliver value."

NEXT: Oracle's Dennis Morgan to ViewSonic's Terry Reavis

16. Dennis Morgan, Oracle
Title: Vice President of North America Public Sector Channels
Years In Position: 9
Years In Public Sector: 26
Most Admired In Gov't: Teri Takai, the CIO of Michigan
Channel Philosophy: "Stay vertically aligned and focused--the public-sector arena demands that. Create robust three-way partnerships among the end user, the vendor and the channel partner, and take advantage of every enablement opportunity that the vendor provides to the channel partner. It's a complex environment, and you just can't afford to leave any training on the table."

17. Joe Muscarella, Symantec

Title: Director of Federal Channels
Years In Position: 2
Years In Public Sector: 12
Most Admired In Gov't: Muscarella's father-in-law, a NASA Goddard employee and Air Force veteran
Channel Philosophy: "I urge our partners to identify complementary, adjacent areas where they could gain a lot of upside. Take all the angles around e-mail. Contractors focused on keeping spam and viruses out of their customers' in-boxes a few years ago, and today there are equally important demands for agencies' message systems to prevent data leaks and achieve compliance."

18. Drew Nowak, Novell

Title: Vice President of Federal Division
Years In Position: 7
Years In Public Sector: 25-plus
Most Admired In Gov't: Career civil servants
Channel Philosophy: "The days of passive selling and broad-based vendor lines are increasingly gone, at least in my mind. Pick your strategic market, specific products and services, and a realistic segment of the federal customer based on what complementary offerings you have that solve real federal business and mission issues."

19. Ron Police, Apple
Title: Vice President of Government Sales
Years In Position: 2
Years In Public Sector: About 15
Most Admired In Gov't: No answer
Channel Philosophy: Truth is, Apple received mixed reviews as far as its channel strategy is concerned, particularly in education, where the vendor will sell direct only. But while Police could not comment directly on his channel philosophy, qualified sources say he's a good egg--and trying to engage partners in the government space.

20. Terry Reavis, ViewSonic
Title: Director of Public Sector Sales
Years In Position: 2
Years In Public Sector: 12
Most Admired In Gov't: Colin Powell
Channel Philosophy: "Business practices can be very challenging. [I ask our partners] to provide constructive feedback so we can continue to build our program. 'Partnership' includes accountability of performance for both parties."

NEXT: Gateway's Vin Riera to NetApp's Mark Weber

21. Vin Riera, Gateway
Title: Vice President of Professional Services and Public Sector
Years In Position: 1
Years In Public Sector: 10
Most Admired In Gov't: No answer
Channel Philosophy: "Attempting to meet every requirement in the federal, state and local government marketplaces is challenging. A vendor must be able to quickly deliver [to partners] those solutions that present the greatest upside and impact for customers. [In return,] partners have to be highly responsive and flexible; work closely with partners to develop product and services offerings that help meet customer requirements and objectives."

22. Tom Ruff, EMC
Title: Director of Federal Business, Development and Partner Management
Years In Position: 2
Years In Public Sector: 24
Most Admired In Gov't: Christie Todd Whitman
Channel Philosophy: "Understanding the rules governing government procurements and the multitude of acquisition strategies and routes to market becomes key, [as does] understanding the partner base--resellers, distributors, federal systems integrators, small businesses. The public-sector market is not one-size-fits-all."

23. Bill Vass, Sun Microsystems
Title: President and COO of Sun Federal
Years In Position: Less than 1
Years In Public Sector: 10
Most Admired In Gov't: Too many to choose
Channel Philosophy: "Channel partners grow share faster if they're partnering to deliver solutions to customers rather than just acting as fulfillment. The federal-government customer is looking for partners that understand their pain points and have the expertise to architect a solution that meets customers' expectations and budgets."

24. Bert Wakeley, Citrix Systems
Title: Director of State and Local Government and Education
Years In Position: 5
Years In Public Sector: 25-plus
Most Admired In Gov't: Theodore Roosevelt
Channel Philosophy: "Understand the governments and agencies you're pursuing, and engage totally, [then] look at the issues from their perspectives and provide the solutions. In the public sector, it's most often whom you know that makes the critical difference."

25. Mark Weber, Network Appliance

Title: Vice President of Federal Systems Group
Years In Position: 3
Years In Public Sector: 21
Most Admired In Gov't: U.S. Marines
Channel Philosophy: "Don't try to be a generalist. Focus on the top two to five products and solutions from your key vendors and go to market with them in order to be successful in a partnership."