Extreme Moves
Joe Vitalone, Extreme Networks’ new chief revenue officer, has a lot on his plate. The former unified communications sales and marketing veteran is now also overseeing global channels for the networking specialist.
Vitalone, who joined the company in June, is taking over for Bob Gault, former CRO and services officer for Extreme Networks and interim channel leader, who left the company in January. A global pandemic aside, 2020 has been a year of flux for the San Jose, Calif.-based networking provider. Extreme Networks in April completed a round of layoffs aimed at restructuring the company to focus on cloud and the as-a-service selling model.
Vitalone caught up with CRN about how the company’s efforts around networking as a service couldn’t have come at a better time as customers adjust their buying preferences around brand-new needs sparked by the pandemic. He also talked about joining Extreme during the COVID-19 pandemic, the changes that needed to be made from a people and process perspective and reshaping the channel strategy.
Here are excerpts from the conversation.
