The New Face Of Channel Management

For reasons ranging from retirement to defections to internal promotions to poor performance, the channel management at IBM, SAP, Symantec, McAfee, Sun Microsystems, Juniper Networks, Gateway and elsewhere has turned over recently.

Of all the changes, the most dramatic and unexpected come from IBM, previously thought to be the most stable of all tier-one vendors. But trouble in software sales and other parts of the company have forced it to make personnel changes. Most notably, IBM moved out Mike Borman, formerly general manager of Global Business Partners, and tasked Donn Atkins to manage the company's PartnerWorld program and operation. Borman, who helped take PartnerWorld to new heights, was reassigned to the server group, where he'll serve as general manager of the iSeries brand. Atkins, former vice president of worldwide sales and marketing for the IBM Software Group, is no newcomer to channels and has been working with partners in conjunction with Borman for some time.

More than a few companies, however, have sought talent from the outside. For example, Donna Troy, the onetime head of channels at McAfee (nee Network Associates), has resurfaced at SAP to oversee its partner channel. She brings 25 years of experience, including a stint as CEO of channel-management software company Partnerware. In addition to being responsible for building and managing the company's 650-strong global partner channel, Troy will serve as the head of SAP's global SMB initiative.

Retirements and promotions are also part of the usual course of business. Gary Grimes, Sun's channel head for the past several years, is retiring in December after a long and distinguished career. He says he has no plans to serve at another company in a day-to-day role, though he says he might work with smaller companies serving as an adviser or board member.

Grimes will be replaced by Greg Stroud, a 22-year Sun veteran who currently heads up the Mountain View, Calif.-based company's efforts to maintain close ties with leading global integrators.

Then there's Allyson Seelinger, the former head of Symantec's U.S. channel efforts and VARBusiness' 2002 Executive of the Year, who has been rewarded with worldwide channel responsibility. She leaves the U.S. channel operation to Randy Cochran, who has worked in channels at Computer Associates International, PSINet and Legent.

Meanwhile, HP's Kevin Gilroy was tapped to run its worldwide SMB sales effort after John Brennan bolted the company for Adobe, where he serves as senior vice president of corporate development. Gilroy, VARBusiness' 2003 Channel Executive of the Year, had served as HP's head of its global Solution Partners Organization and is widely considered to be one of the industry's channel experts.

Finally, some of the management newcomers have longstanding ties to the channel. Tiffani Bova has taken over the channel job at Gateway, and Tushar Kothari was recruited from Cisco to run channels and other operations at Juniper Networks.

But the two are likely to have decidedly different working climates. After taking the helm in July, Kothari immediately helped recruit ex-Cisco exec Bob Bruce, who joins the team as vice president of Americas channels, and Neil Oristano, who comes on board as vice president of Americas sales. They join Juniper at a time when the company is poised to make a legitimate run at networking kingpin Cisco, expanding its reach into the enterprise space for the first time. "As we are entering the enterprise market in the early stage of our expansion, both the direct and indirect sides of the house are well in tune with what we need to do," Kothari says.

Bova's task is more Herculean. She's charged with restoring confidence among Gateway's partners as the company strives to reinvent itself as an end-to-end provider of corporate and home solutions. In this sense, Bova's move may be more lateral than vertical. Formerly of Interland and Affinity, she steps into a void left at Gateway by Errett Kroeter and others who bolted after the company changed course and unexpectedly merged with eMachines.

All this tumult at the top does little to affect the average reseller, however. "Whenever we hear about a new channel exec at one of our vendors, it doesn't create much upheaval," says Paul O'Connor, principal architect for Java and SOAs at Anexinet, a network integrator in Philadelphia. "When you're trying to convince a potential client to spend millions of dollars on a project, an executive change at the vendor has no bearing on your daily business."

Yet, VARs should be on the lookout for the underlying message behind an executive departure that might signal a strategic shift. "The turnover problem is related to CEOs getting serious about increasing the numbers for their services groups, and I'm always leery of companies that make changes without announcing them publicly," O'Connor says.

The Channel's Musical Chairs

Donn Atkins

Old Role: IBM's VP of worldwide software sales and marketing

New Role: GM of IBM PartnerWorld

Background: Worked with Borman on numerous partner-oriented projects in a variety of capacities.

Quote: "I bring a lot of experience from different aspects of the company, and [partners] is a place where I've been putting a lot of my energy."

Tushar Kothari

Old Role: Helping Cisco in channels, low-end networking gear

New Role: Juniper Networks' VP of worldwide channels

Background: Brings process and organizational skills to new job, plus an intimate knowledge of Juniper's rivals' partner programs.

Quote: "Both the direct and indirect sides of the house are well in tune with what we need to do."

Greg Stroud

Old Role: Managing relationships with high-end SIs at Sun

New Role: Sun's VP of iForce partner sales

Background: A 22-year Sun veteran, Stroud has run operations in the U.K. and Ireland.

Quote: "We pride ourselves on building leveraged relationships in the marketplace."

Donna Troy

Old Job: McAfee's EVP of channels

New Role: SAP's SVP of global SMB

Background: Troy's 25-year career includes stints as CEO and president of Partnerware and VP of worldwide channels and alliances at Tivoli.