SAP Taps North American Channel Chief For Global Post

Gilroy will report directly to Eric Duffaut, president of SAP Global Ecosystem & Channels, according to a statement from the company Wednesday.

Gilroy has been with SAP for two years, joining in January 2010 as vice president in charge of channels and business development for SAP's small and midsize business organization in North America.

Since then Gilroy has moved up through the North American channel management ranks. Before Wednesday's announcement he held the title of senior vice president for the Ecosystem & Channels organization at SAP North America.

Gilroy is tasked with "accelerating global indirect revenue through key SAP partners and developing new business opportunities by extending both the SAP channel partner ecosystem and alternate channels," SAP said in the statement announcing Gilroy's promotion.

The channel now accounts for about 25 percent of SAP's global sales and company executives have said they want to grow that to 40 or even 50 percent of all sales within the next few years.

Before joining SAP Gilroy was best known for his 24-year career at Hewlett-Packard, including serving as the company's channel chief and leading its global SMB operations. After leaving HP in 2005 he has served as president and CEO of OnForce and managed Arrow's Enterprise Solutions Computing group.