Equinix Hires Former Juniper Channel Chief Gordon Mackintosh To Lead Global Partner Sales

‘Gordon knows both the OEM and partner side of the business and has what it takes to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together for Equinix,’ says Advizex CEO C.R. Howdyshell.

Gordon Mackintosh, who until recently was heading up the combined HPE-Juniper partner networking business, has been tapped by $9.2 billion data center and colocation behemoth Equinix to lead global partner sales.

“This week, I take on a new challenge and have joined Equinix as SVP of Partner Sales and Programs,” said Mackintosh (pictured) in a LinkedIn post that comes nearly one month after HPE said he was leaving to pursue another opportunity. “Equinix has built something truly special, and I’m excited to build on that strong foundation—evolving the partner motion, unlocking incremental value, and helping turn it into an even more powerful growth engine for the company. Really looking forward to help shape what’s ahead!!!”

C.R. Howdyshell, CEO of Independence, Ohio-based Advizex, No. 129 on the 2025 CRN Solution Provider 500, an Equinix partner, said bringing Mackintosh on board to drive channel growth is a “huge” coup for the colocation provider.

“Gordon knows both the OEM and partner side of the business and has what it takes to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together for Equinix,” said Howdyshell. “For partners like us there is a significant opportunity to sell our managed services working hand in hand with Equinix, which is very flexible and has a good channel program.”

Howdyshell said he is looking forward to working with Mackintosh to expand Advizex’s business with the company. “We see significant opportunities to drive customer colocation adoption with Equinix, building on the success we have already had,” he said.

Howdyshell said “most customers do not want to be in the data center business” and are looking for more cost-effective ways to run workloads with a colocation provider like Equinix.

Mackintosh joined Juniper Networks six years ago as group vice president of the partner organization. With HPE completing its $13.4 billion acquisition of Juniper in 2025, Mackintosh took the role leading the combined HPE-Juniper networking business as vice president, worldwide channel and partner ecosystem networking sales.

Before joining HPE, Mackintosh spent four years as vice president of worldwide channels and partner-led sales for Extreme Networks and 20 years at Cisco in a number of partner roles, including director of the worldwide partner business.

CRN reached out to Equinix but had not heard back at press time.

Equinix plans to double its total data center capacity by 2029. The company has more than 10,000 customers inside 268 data centers across 35 countries, the company said in its annual report.

Equinix Vice President of Global Partner Americas Marketing Tricia Atchison said in her responses to CRN’s 2026 Channel Chiefs project that partners are a “strategic growth engine” that contributed 25 percent of net-new customer logos in the wake of an AI demand generation initiative.

“In 2026, success for Equinix will hinge on partners aligning with our go-to-market strategy, adopting AI and delivering integrated solutions that maximize interconnection and meet evolving customer needs,” said Atchison. “By adopting AI to accelerate growth and drive innovation—alongside addressing sustainability and workforce expectations—partners can create frictionless experiences and deliver ongoing value. Together, we enable customers to transform their businesses in a rapidly changing digital landscape.”

Equinix revamped its partner program in 2024 to include four distinct partner go-to-market options: sell, service, build and operate.

The company also enhanced its deal registration offering, ensuring Equinix direct sales teams would not compete with partners on registered opportunities.

In 2024, Equinix also launched an authorized distributor program that ensured partners could provide Equinix services without completing a program certification.

HPE has had a long relationship with Equinix.

Equinix, which is an HPE GreenLake Alliance partner and reseller, was named HPE GreenLake Momentum Partner of the Year in 2022.

Furthermore, HPE Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Hybrid Cloud Business and CTO Fidelma Russo has been a member of Equinix’s board of directors since 2022.

Mackintosh, for his part, in the LinkedIn post wished the entire HPE-Juniper team “all the best,” saying he would be “rooting” for their continued success.

“After six incredible years at Juniper Networks, I’m deeply grateful for the journey—and for the people, partners, leaders and mentors who were part of it,” he wrote. “Your trust, collaboration, and support played a meaningful role in our shared success, and I’m tremendously proud of what we built together along the way.”