HPE's Channel Marketing Whiz Departs For AWS

Chris Ogburn is the man behind some of HPE's innovative programs to help partners become proficient in digital marketing techniques and strategies.

Chris Ogburn, a marketing whiz well-known in the ranks of HPE's channel, has left the hardware giant for Amazon Web Services.

After 17 years at Hewlett-Packard and then HPE, Ogburn took his marketing savvy to the public cloud leader this month, where he will be the new AWS Head of Global Channels and Alliances Marketing, according to his LinkedIn profile. AWS did not immediately respond to a request for more information about Ogburn's role with the company.

Ogburn has spearheaded HPE's campaigns to help its partners master the realm of digital marketing and align their investment strategies with how customers are purchasing IT technology.

[Related: HPE Channel VP Ogburn's Top 5 Digital-Marketing-First Tips]

Among his innovations, in 2017, Ogburn's team launched the HPE Partner Ready Digital Marketing Program, which provides training, tools and content that partners can use to drive their own digital marketing transformations.

And earlier this year, Ogburn led the expansion of the HPE Marketing Pro Academy with a Digital Marketing Partner Accreditation. That program, aimed at developing more digital-business-savvy marketing reps and executives in the channel, added online training tracks leading to a formal HPE accreditation.

Ogburn joined Hewlett-Packard in 2002 as director for SMB Channel Sales.

He climbed the ranks over the next decade, and in April of 2014 became vice president for worldwide channel marketing, responsible for executing channel marketing strategies through HP partners across the portfolio of enterprise products and services.

Ogburn maintained that position when the company split, and in 2017 was elevated again to serve as HPE's vice president of global marketing.

Jeff Aden, executive vice president of marketing and strategic business development at 2nd Watch, a premier AWS consulting partner based in Seattle, told CRN that Ogburn will play an important role in driving growth and success in the AWS ecosystem. As an increasingly complex solution landscape makes it more challenging for enterprises to understand what partners are best-suited to their needs, there’s a lot of benefit for AWS to build out that channel marketing team, Aden said.

Amazon’s support for partner marketing efforts, either through the allotment of market development funds or promotion at the annual AWS re:Invent conference, is extremely valuable to channel consultancies like 2nd Watch.

“He can help us go out to attract new business and get new customers, as well as helping customers understand what partners to work with,” Aden said.