Channel Chiefs To Watch In 2014

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Every year, CRN presents the CRN Channel Chief list, a roundup of key channel executives in the IT industry. From a list of 270 Channel Chiefs, CRN chose the 20
’Channel Chiefs To Watch.’ These Channel Chiefs are a collection of executives who are new to their positions, have big responsibilities ahead of them and work at fast-growing companies.

Kirsten Lee has hit the ground running at A10 Networks, which filed for a $100 million IPO earlier this month. Lee helped the company boost its partner base from 300 partners last year to 550 at the end of 2013.

Cheryl Cook is charged with overseeing Dell’s PartnerDirect program, which has more than 2,000 employees worldwide. Dell is in the process of transforming itself from a direct- sales-only computer hardware maker to the broad-based IT systems company that CEO Michael Dell vows will depend on the channel.

Phil Sorgen is managing worldwide channels at a critical time, with CEO Satya Nadella taking over. Sorgen also will have to manage the controversies recently involving Microsoft, including the limited use of the channel to sell Surface and cutting sales commissions Microsoft pays its partners for cloud services.

Ken Totura has led the launch of the Pax8 Partner Program, which has recruited more than 75 partners since June 2013. Pax8 is a cloud commerce marketplace that delivers cloud-based services through a global network of channel partners.