Juniper Networks Taps Gordon Mackintosh As Worldwide Channel VP

Gordon Mackintosh, previously the channel chief at Extreme Networks before stepping down in November, has taken a top channel management position at Juniper Networks where he is the new worldwide vice president of channel and virtual sales, Juniper said Friday.

Mackintosh will drive Juniper’s go-to-market strategy with the networking company’s partners and work to simplify how partners work with the vendor, Juniper said in a statement.

“Juniper Networks has a great reputation in the partner community with its strong technology and solutions in AI-driven enterprise, multi-cloud networking and connected security solutions,” Mackintosh said in the statement.

“I couldn’t be more honored to lead Juniper’s global partner organization into the future,” Mackintosh said. “The opportunity ahead for Juniper and its partners is vast, but to seize it, we must collaborate more effectively and move faster. Partners continue to be an integral part of Juniper’s growth strategy in all segments and I’m truly excited to join the team to continue to create innovative strategies that help partners accelerate their business into the multi-cloud era.”

Mackintosh, named by CRN among the most influential channel chiefs in 2019, left Extreme Networks in November for a job at another company, undisclosed at the time. He had been the company’s channel chief for just under four years.

Bob Gault, Extreme Networks’ chief revenue services officer, has been managing that company’s channel operations while it searches for a replacement.

Prior to his career at Extreme Networks, Mackintosh worked at Cisco Systems in a number of channel management posts.

In November Juniper unveiled a number of updates to the Juniper Partner Advantage program, effective this year, including new specializations, incentives, and marketing and sales enablement offerings.

Juniper said Mackintosh and his team will focus on leveraging those capabilities “by executing on a sales strategy” designed specifically to help partners work with Juniper’s AI-driven wired and wireless networking, including the cloud-based wireless technology Juniper acquired last year through its $405 million purchase of Mist Systems.

“We’re thrilled to have Gordon lead Juniper’s Global Partner Sales,” said Marcus Jewell, Juniper Networks’ executive vice president and chief sales officer, in the company statement. "Gordon has had proven success in leading innovative and high-performing teams, establishing a culture of collaboration, developing people and, most importantly, prioritizing and strengthening the incredible relationships with our partners.”