The 30 Blockbuster Channel Executive Moves Of 2014

Changes In The Channel

This year saw changes happening left and right to channel executive lineups. From Juniper to Symantec to IBM, some of the biggest companies in the industry were bringing on new leadership to their channel teams. Of course, solution providers themselves weren't to be left behind, bringing on new CEOs and shaking up their executive lineups.

Take a look at some of the biggest channel executive moves of 2014.

David Helfer

After more than 14 years with the company, Juniper worldwide channel chief David Helfer announced he was leaving the networking company. Helfer won't be leaving the channel just yet, however, with sources telling CRN at the time that he had been tapped to help build a channel program at mobile security provider Lookout. Helfer was only one of many channel and business executives that left Juniper this year, leaving partners with a feeling of uncertainty for the vendor's road map.

John Eldh

After nearly a decade with Symantec, channel chief John Eldh left the security company in August to pursue other opportunities. As Symantec vice president of Americas channel and distribution sales, Eldh was instrumental in overseeing many changes to the company's channel program over the years. A month later, Eldh announced that he had taken up a position at CA Technologies as senior vice president of global security sales, just as the vendor announced a new channel-first strategy across its entire product line.

Eldh was replaced by Rick Kramer, Symantec vice president of sales, national solution providers and global integrators for North America.

Ed Coleman, Peter Altabef

Unisys CEO Ed Coleman (pictured) announced in October that he would be leaving the company, effective Dec. 1. His departure came on the heels of multiple quarters of dropping revenues and earnings for the solution provider, though the company said he was not fired and it was the "right time" for a change. Coleman had been with Unisys since 2008.

Coleman's departure launched the solution provider, No. 17 on the SP500, into a CEO search. On Dec. 16, Unisys announced 20-year industry veteran Peter Altabef would be joining the company as CEO, charged with driving positive revenue growth. Altabef assumed his role on Jan. 1.

Steve Dallman

After 35 years with the company, Intel former global channel chief Steve Dallman announced his retirement in March. Dallman spent most of his career with Intel, joining the company in 1979. He most recently served as vice president and general manager of Intel's Original Design Manufacturing Channel Engagement business. Prior to that, Dallman served as general manager of Intel's worldwide Reseller Channel Organization (RCO).

Tami Duncan

IBM kicked off the year with a new North American channel chief. Tami Duncan joined the company in January as vice president of IBM's business partner and midmarket sales for North America, replacing Bill Donohue, who stepped down in August 2013. Duncan isn't new to Big Blue, spending more than a decade with the company, most recently as vice president of the Northeast Region general business. Prior to that, she served as director of strategy for IBM Global Services North America.

Marc Dupaquier

Not only did IBM announce a new channel chief for North America, it also announced a new global channel chief. Marc Dupaquier, a 30-year IBM veteran, assumed the role of general manager of IBM Global Business Partners. He replaced Mark Hennessy, who moved into another role within Big Blue. Dupaquier most recently served as vice president of marketing and strategy for IBM's Systems and Technology Group.

Edison Peres

In a big surprise for Cisco partners, the networking giant announced that Senior Vice President of Worldwide Channels Edison Peres would be moving to drive partner recruitment and enablement for its budding cloud organization. After 10 years in his previous role, Peres' new title is senior vice president of cloud and managed services. The move was part of Cisco's big Intercloud push, which was unveiled in April.

Michael Boustridge

As the solution provider launched into extensive restricting efforts, Ciber chose new CEO Michael Boustridge to lead the charge. Boustridge replaced former CEO Dave Peterschmidt in June. Boustridge first joined the solution provider, No. 38 on CRN's SP500 list, in 2012 as a member of the board of directors. He also has held positions at Contact Solutions, BT Global Services and EDS.

Since joining the company, Boustridge has launched a $24 million restructuring plan that the company said would push the solution provider toward sustainable growth and profit.

Leonard Iventosch

In a big surprise at the beginning of the year, EMC's North American channel chief Leonard Iventosch resigned from the company. After holding the vice president of Americas channels role for more than two years, Iventosch updated his LinkedIn profile to say "restricted free agent." His profile now says "channel sales executive," but does not have an updated position. Prior to joining EMC, Iventosch held positions at Isilon Systems and NetApp.

Jorge Benitez

In May, solution provider powerhouse Accenture announced U.S. CEO Jorge Benitez would be retiring after more than 30 years with the company. A day after Benitez's announcement, Accenture named Stephen Rohleder as his replacement. A 30-year company veteran, Rohleder most recently served as group chief executive of the company's health and public service group before assuming the CEO role.

Garrett Jones

After helping develop the security vendor's worldwide channel program, Symantec worldwide channel chief Garrett Jones took his talents elsewhere. In June, Jones announced he would be leaving to lead the development of a channel program at startup Spanning, a cloud-based services backup firm. Jones told CRN at the time that the reason behind the switch was to spend more time with his family and work for a smaller company.

Stephen Boyle

Microsoft snapped up longtime Oracle executive Stephen Boyle in March to head up its enterprise partners division. As vice president of enterprise partners, Boyle is responsible for managing alliances and developing sales practices for the software giant's enterprise partners. Boyle most recently served as Oracle's vice president of ISV and OEM alliances.

Rob Claus

Huawei was on the hunt for a new channel chief early this year as U.S. channel chief Rob Claus left the company in January to join Tely Labs. Claus had served as vice president of U.S. channel sales for the vendor since 2011.

In March, Huawei announced Glen Ziegler would be filling the vacant channel chief role. Ziegler came to Huawei from Hewlett-Packard, where he led channel strategies for the company's networking business. Ziegler arrived at HP through the vendor's acquisition of 3Com, where he was director of channel partners.

Jonathan Belcher

Just days before its partner conference, Juniper named a new U.S. channel chief in Jonathan Belcher. He replaces former U.S. channel chief Chris Jones, who left the company in November of last year. Prior to assuming the channel chief role, Belcher served as vice president of partner and alliance sales for Asia Pacific, Greater China and Japan. At the partner conference, Belcher told CRN that he believes Juniper is a "stable organization," despite a flurry of executive departures over the past year.

Karl Soderlund

Avaya channel chief Karl Soderlund announced in February that he would be leaving the company to take a new role as vice president of worldwide channels at Aruba Networks. Soderlund had been with Avaya since 2011.

In June, Avaya announced tweaks to its channel program in tandem with the appointment of former VMware executive Joe Lohmeier as a replacement for Soderlund. Lohmeier served as vice president of Americas Sales at VMware for two years before joining Avaya as vice president of U.S. Channel Sales.

Pete Howard, Al Danza

March layoffs at NetApp hit the channel with the loss of two key channel executives. Vice President of Global Channel Sales Pete Howard (pictured) and Channel Director for NetApp's East region Al Danza were let go from the storage company. The round of layoffs hit around 600 employees total.

After leaving NetApp, Howard joined cloud-based storage company Cleversafe as vice president of channels and alliances. Danza became a principal at Channel Insights.

Luanne Tierney

After a series of budget cuts to the networking vendor's marketing organization, Juniper head of partner marketing Luanne Tierney left the company in April. At the time, Tierney said she planned to write a book on best practices and strategies for young women in the workforce. However, in August she returned to the channel by joining Fortinet to lead the company's corporate communications strategies.

Will Knight

After more than 15 years at Microsoft, Will Knight joined Rackspace in April as the cloud company's vice president of channel partner sales. At Microsoft, Knight most recently served as senior director of the company's Asia-Pacific small and medium businesses. It's been an exciting year for Knight to head up channels at Rackspace, with bubbling rumors of an acquisition that were ultimately put to rest and a new focus on born-in-the-cloud partners.

Rodolpho Cardenuto

In May, Rodolpho Cardenuto was promoted to head of SAP's brand-new Global Partner Operations organization. The division was created as part of a larger reorganization within SAP earlier that month. Cardenuto has been with SAP since 2008, serving before the promotion as president of SAP Americas. As part of the shuffle, Mark Ferrer moved from managing the SAP Ecosystems and Channels organization to become COO of customer operations.

Adam Famularo

After less than six months on the job, CA Technologies channel chief Adam Famularo stepped down in May. Sources told CRN at the time that the unexpected departure was due to an apparent conflict over the company's strategic direction with the indirect channel. Famularo had been behind driving a "channel first" strategy at CA. While there was no announcement at the time of a new position for Famularo, he said in September that he had found a new home at Verizon Enterprise Solutions as vice president of global channels. In an interview with CRN about the move, Famularo said he went to Verizon because "the channel commitment is there and it is on an upward trajectory."

Phil Gallagher

After being with Avnet since 1983, Phil Gallagher left the company in September to pursue new career opportunities. Gallagher spent his last five years at Avnet as global president of Avnet Technology Solutions. He will remain on the board of directors until a replacement is chosen.

"Phil is a well-respected, 31-year veteran of the company," Rick Hamada, Avnet CEO, said in a statement at the time. "We are well-positioned to create the robust solutions our customers need, and we thank Phil for his valuable contributions to the business."

Roger Egan

Red Hat saw its fair share of executive moves this year. One of the higher profile channel moves included U.S. channel chief Roger Egan in January. Egan left his position as vice president of North American channel sales to take a new position at open-source startup Docker.

Red Hat named his replacement in April with D. Robert Martin, who came to Red Hat from VCE, where he was vice president of global indirect channels. Prior to that, Martin held a variety of top channel positions at Cisco.

Prashant Ranade

Solution provider Syntel, No. 40 on CRN's SP500 list, made some big executive changes this year. President and CEO Prashant Ranade announced plans to step down in February to take over as the board of director's executive vice chairman. Nitin Rakesh replaced Ranade as president and CEO. Rakesh previously was president of Syntel's business development and near shoring center for the Americas.

Mark Arman

Polycom snapped up an executive from rival ShoreTel for its new global channel chief. In June, Polycom announced Mark Arman would be its new vice president of worldwide channel sales. In his new role, Arman is responsible for developing the global channel strategy and partner program. At the time, partners cheered the news because of Arman's strong channel background.

Todd Palmer

As it revealed updates to its NextWave Partner Program, Palo Alto Networks brought in Todd Palmer as its new Americas channel chief to lead the charge. Palmer said he was attracted to Palo Alto Networks' partner value proposition. He brings extensive experience to his new role, including five years leading NetApp's channel program, among other roles.

Rich Geraffo

As the year came to a close, Oracle announced it would be on the hunt for a new channel chief. In November, channel chief Rich Geraffo was moved to head up the company's North American technology sales operations, reporting directly to co-CEO Mark Hurd. Geraffo will now be senior vice president, North American technology, hardware and public sector sales, replacing 21-year veteran Matthew Mills, who left in August.

Jay Miley

As the solution provider started to ramp up investments in networking, security and cloud, PCM brought on a new president. Jay Miley, a former Ingram Micro executive, joined the solution provider in November. He replaced Founder, Chairman and CEO Frank Khulusi. In his new role, Miley has been charged with leading the operations, strategy, managing costs, and growing sales and profits.

John Corley

Longtime company executive John Corley took the reins of Xerox's channel program in September, succeeding Douraid Zaghouani. Corley has spent more than 20 years with Xerox, most recently as senior vice president and general manager of Canadian Operations. Corley is responsible for accelerating the company's SMB business for partners, as well as the enterprise printer business.

Karl Meulema

Former Avaya and Cisco executive Karl Meulema joined Riverbed in October. Meulema is Riverbed's senior vice president of global channels, where he is now responsible for enabling partners to sell the Riverbed portfolio. He replaces Randy Schirman, who left the month before for Talari Networks. Meulema came to Riverbed most recently from Avaya, where he was vice president of global services and partners, but is also well-known for his more than 11 years in channel roles at Cisco.

Roger Krone

Solution provider Leidos, the product of a split with SAIC, announced a new CEO this summer with Roger Krone after former CEO John Jumper announced plans to retire in February. Krone comes to Leidos from Boeing, where he was president of Network and Space Systems. While Krone will be taking the reins of the solution provider, departing CEO Jumper said he would stick around to help during the transition, as well as stay on as chairman of the board of directors.