Data protection firm Arcserve has appointed Vince Blackall as its new EMEA Channel Director. Again.
The company said that Blackall comes with a proven track record of delivering transformational revenue growth and sales productivity across existing and new sales teams, and will oversee the development and delivery of Arcserve’s EMEA channel growth strategy.
Aura Alliance today announced Jonathan Harris will join full time as Chief Technology and Strategy Officer.
Harris will lead the global strategy and technology roadmap to support the company’s move from being an Avaya centric specialist to becoming a multi-vendor global alliance in the deployment of global enterprise communications.
Harris said: “I’m delighted to take up this new challenge at such an exciting time for the business.
Boys thrashing tops in 1560 – Brueghel
The Canalys Channel Conference closed at 3PM prompt this afternoon, Barcelona time, but not before one of the few channel journalists left standing was given a five minute slot to stand and address the thousand or so attendees at the conference.
Cristoph Hugenschmidt, a journalist at Inside Channels CH, made an impassioned speech about how the community of vendors, distributors and resellers need the independence that real journalism – rather than fake news or marketing spin – offers that influential group.
Cristoph reckons – and ChannelEye agrees – that the hugely lucrative market needs independent journalism more than ever before. He gave as an example a Canalys event he attended a year or two back where a marketing spinner told the assembled hacks that journalism wasn’t necessary any more because his company could put out the message it wanted via social media and using impoverished hacks to write online press releases.
Nevertheless, after delivering this insult to the hackettes and hacks at the table, according to Cristoph, he tipped up a couple of hours later and said: “I do expect you journalists to be at my 9AM roundtable tomorrow.”
The Swiss hack was basically saying that unless the channel supported free and independent journalism as part of the community, we’ll all wither away and companies will lose the insight, gossip and spinicide that hackettes and hacks deliver.
Why does the channel need journalists like Cristoph and the few of us that are left? My feeling is that despite the noise of Twitter and other social media, and PR and marketing executives spinning like tops, there is a need for a cool third party appraisal of what’s going on. “Going forward”, to use an infamous marketing perversion of the phrase “in the future”, company CEOs need to decide whether they can afford the ridiculous price of marketing spin and decide whether it’s worth it.
ChannelEye of course, is notorious as purveyors of “fake news” – via The Rogister and theINQUIRER.net, and coined the term “wide awake news” two years after Donald Trump was born.
Channel Marketing agency Sherpa is expanding its global operations outreach by hiring a new Client Services Director.
Lee Walker, former Business Development Director for Stylus, has joined Sherpa as the Client Services Director and will head up the operations team.
Lee brings extensive marketing expertise from previous agency roles and his experience of managing numerous, successful teams throughout his career will be integral in his role as Client Services Director and ensuring Sherpa’s customers continue to be fully supported.
Lee said he was delighted to be joining Sherpa as the business looks to continue its successful growth.
“Sherpa already has a strong client focus, as evidenced by its long-standing relationships and recent business wins. I am joining a remarkable team who are extremely experienced across the full marketing mix, from data management, strategic planning and ABM to content marketing, SEO and paid traffic. The skill set is incredibly diverse, and I am confident that through our combined efforts our global operations will not only become more efficient but also develop stronger and more valuable business relationships with our clients.”
Sherpa CEO, Tom Perry added: “Sherpa has a wide range of clients, made up of some of the largest companies in the tech space at present and as our client base grows and the marketing landscape continues to change, so do the required skillsets of our core team. I am a big believer in championing our team and investing in them, ensuring the right person stepped into the role of Client Services Director has been paramount. I do not doubt that we have found someone in Lee who can actively lead our expansion and grow our operations teams as we take on more global marketing programmes.
“Our vision of creating the world’s best channel marketing agency requires people of Lee’s calibre, and I’m delighted he has joined Sherpa at this time of rapid expansion”.
IFS has appointed respected industry veteran Gabrielle Deeny to drive the company’s partner business.
She will lead the global alliances and channels programme, which will “strategically accelerate” the growth of IFS’s commercial channels, an area of increased priority for the company.
The company proclaims: “With a focus first on adding value to IFS customers, this growth will be accomplished by leveraging existing channels and creating new ones all the while ensuring partners continue to be rigorously vetted to provide customers with best-in-class solutions, services and support.
“With a background in international business, Deeny has a sound track record of reinventing business models, creating customer-centered value propositions and providing leadership in Forbes’ Global 2000 companies, including Microsoft, EMC, Wipro & ABB, where she was Global VP Alliances & Channel Sales.”
So what does Gabrielle say herself?
“This is an incredibly exciting time to be joining IFS, the extension of our portfolio of solutions through recent acquisitions and the establishment of a new leadership team all point toward the accelerated growth of the organisation. Our success will also be reliant on our partner ecosystem, ensuring we have the right mix of enabled and accredited partners is of paramount importance. IFS is in excellent shape to grow its global footprint through existing and new alliances. I look forward to working with the IFS team and our trusted partners to continue to deliver best-in-class solutions to our mutual customers.”
We think IFS needs a good sub or a copy editor – way too many stock phrases like ecosystem, global footprint, and best-in-class. Perhaps there’s artificial intelligence at work here.
Bromium has announced that Kevin Mosher has joined the company as its Chief Revenue Officer.
Mosher will oversee all revenue generation processes, and lead Bromium’s global field operations and go-to-market efforts.
Bromium CEO Gregory Webb said he was delighted to have Mosher join the Bromium team.
Mosher joins at a time when Bromium is poised for rapid growth with a differentiated, market-leading solution, he said.
“Along with his network of trusted CIO, CISO, sales, and partner relationships, Kevin’s expertise running high-performing field and channel organizations makes him the ideal leader for increased customer time to value and growth.”
Prior to joining Bromium, Mosher was SVP of Worldwide Sales at cyber security start-up ArcSight, where he oversaw revenue growth from $4 million to $700 million in seven years.
He was also instrumental in helping take the company public in 2008. Mosher then led Global Sales at data security company Delphix, where over a period of three years he significantly grew revenues, increased deal size, and expanded the company’s market share. Mosher also held leadership roles at Oracle, Portal Software, and Accel Partners, a venture capital firm.
Sage CEO Stephen Kelly has stepped down from his role at the accountancy software vendor, Sage despite apparently turning the outfit around.
Sage’s numbers had been pretty dire this year, but showed signs of recovery during an update to the London Stock Exchange at the start of August.
On his resignation Kelly said: “I joined Sage four years ago and am immensely proud of the extraordinary change that I have had the privilege to lead. I joined a fragmented organisation with minimal presence in the cloud. The major cultural transformation has created Sage Business Cloud which has now grown to £386 million of annualised recurring revenue from a standing start and has driven total shareholder return for Sage of over twice that of the FTSE100 during my tenure.”
Chairman Donald Brydon said: “Stephen has much to be proud of in the very heavy lifting he has led as the group is transformed.
“He energised the group, drove change with relentless focus on customers, and under his leadership the strategy to become a leading SaaS business has been defined. The board remains fully supportive of the overall strategy. We wish Stephen well in the next phase of his life.”
Tech Data’s Advanced Solutions boss Rob Tomlin is set to join Dell EMC as UK channel VP, replacing Sarah Shields who is headed off to greener pastures in a more European role.
Shields announced in June that she would become VP of enterprise channels but said she would stay on in Blighty until a suitable replacement had been found.
Tech Data has announced to staff that Rob Tomlin will be leaving to join Dell EMC as VP of channels.
“Rob has been a key player in the integration of both SDG and Avnet into the Tech Data business and we thank him for the work he has done in setting up the Advanced Solutions division. “He leaves a very strong management team behind him in which we have every confidence. The leadership of the Advanced Solutions management team will be picked up by [UK MD] David Watts and we have total belief that the division will continue to grow and build upon the value it is bringing to the channel.”
Tomlin is expected to set up in Shield’s office early in Q4.
Steve Castle has joined the blockchain payments and identity brand Nuggets as a non-Executive Director.
Castle has already been supporting Nuggets as a strategic adviser for over a year, and was an early investor.
Alastair Johnson, Founder and CEO of Nuggets, said: “It’s a great pleasure to welcome Steve as a Non-Executive Director. His strategic advice has been invaluable to us for some time now, and we’re looking forward to drawing on even more of his 35 years’ experience in financial services.”
Castle’s most recent high-profile role was as a key part of the ‘Senior Management Walk-In’ team briefed with turning around Liverpool Victoria General Insurance Group in 2006.
As Group Finance Director, he was instrumental in transforming the business into the LV= brand as it is today. By 2012, the business had been grown five-fold to become the third-largest motor insurer in the UK. The (previously loss making) company was also delivering annual profits of over £100m and had the highest customer satisfaction levels in the industry.
Before LV=, Castle held senior Group Board positions in the RBS Insurance, Direct Line and Churchill. He was previously a director at AIG, ACE & CIGNA.
Of his new role, Steve Castle said: “Having seen how rapidly Nuggets has developed in markets around the world over recent months, I’m delighted to be joining the team as Non-Executive Director.
“Nuggets offers a unique solution for making simple e-commerce payments and other transactions without having to share personal data. I’m convinced it’s a product that will transform e-commerce as we know it.”
This latest announcement follows the recent appointment of former Managing Director of Visa, Kevin Jenkins, to establish Nuggets in Europe and lead on business development.
At the end of June, Nuggets also announced a partnership with QFPay, the Chinese payment provider used by Asian commerce giants Alipay and WeChat. QFPay has managed more than 500 million mobile payment transactions to date. Now, Asian merchants using QFPay can also benefit from Nuggets’ unique payments and identity features.
Engine today announced the appointment of Kasha Cacy as the company’s global chief executive officer.
Effective 4 September, Cacy will oversee Engine’s 17 offices across North America, the UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific, leading the company’s marketing offering, from insights and content to distribution and technology.
Cacy joins Engine from UM, the full-service marketing and media agency network of IPG Mediabrands, where she served as US CEO. She will be based out of Engine’s headquarters in New York, and will report to Engine Executive Chairman Paul Caine.
Caine said: “I’m delighted to welcome Kasha to the Engine family. Her talent, drive and vision will be tremendous assets as we enter an exciting time for the company and our clients. Kasha has deep expertise across media, data, marketing and consulting. She will be key in leading Engine as we build upon our differentiated offering of data, insights, content, distribution and technology, with the goal of helping our brand, publisher and agency partners succeed in driving business growth.”
Cacy said: “I am excited to join Engine because I think it has unlimited opportunity to serve clients’ marketing solutions needs. Individually, each of the practice areas is so impressive. And together, it creates the kind of solutions clients are going to be really excited about. I can’t wait to join the talented leaders and teams around the globe in leading a nimble, open ecosystem that will provide clients with a better way of working and greater value than ever before.”
In her ten years at UM, Cacy was most recently responsible for all US operations, including more than 1,200 people in five offices, while also overseeing US-based clients, including J&J, Chrysler, Coke, Hershey, Sony Pictures, USPS, CVS, and Charles Schwab. Prior to UM, she held positions at McCann Erickson, Ogilvy, Cheil Communications, Wunderman, and Accenture.
Cisco’s global channel boss Wendy Bahr is to step down this year after 18 years with the outfit.
Bahr joined Cisco in 2000 as SVP of US and Canada channels and has been a key contact for the networking giant’s partners.
Cisco said that it plans to have a new channel lead appointed by the time of its partner conference, which will be held in Las Vegas in November.
Cisco said: “We respect Wendy’s decision to leave Cisco and want to thank her for 18 years of leadership at Cisco, most recently leading our Global Partner Organisation.
“Our partner community is one of our strongest assets and we are committed to their success and helping them evolve with Cisco’s transformation.”
Bahr has been credited with helping to reshape Cisco’s partner business as the vendor goes through its transition.
Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins acknowledged Bahr’s contributions to Cisco in a tweet that said: “Special thanks to Wendy Bahr for all of your great contributions to Cisco. We will miss you but we wish you the best in all you do and we will always value our friendship.”
Kevin Jenkins, the former Managing Director of Visa, has joined the board of blockchain payments and identity brand Nuggets. In a major coup for the fast-growing British company, Jenkins has signed on as a non-Executive Director, bringing years of invaluable experience to the team.
Nuggets has already been making rapid progress in the worldwide payments area, especially recently in China, it claims. As the platform rolls out across the globe, Jenkins’ “considerable expertise” looks set to accelerate that progress even further.
Alastair Johnson, founder and CEO of Nuggets, said: “Kevin is a true payments pioneer, with an amazing reputation for establishing partnerships with financial Institutions, technology partners, retailers and e-commerce providers.
“He’ll help us build the relationships we need to roll out the product as quickly as possible. We’re thrilled that, after so long working on customer payment journeys at Visa, Kevin will be helping us bring even more fundamental and exciting change to the way people manage payments and ID.”
The Visa the brand was used to spend over £1 in every £3 in the UK. He also drove the adoption of contactless payments at UK merchants. The successful partnership with TFL has led to more than a billion contactless journeys and more than 40 percent of all pay-as-you-go London transport journeys a day.
Kevin Jenkins said: “The current model of businesses holding personal information is broken. It needs fundamental change, study after study shows that customers are frustrated by the payments journey: the many steps they have to take, and the security fears.
“For decades, the payments industry has been trying to achieve a balance between security and convenience. What impresses me so much about Nuggets is that it manages to optimise both.
“I’m convinced that every stakeholder in the payments ecosystem, from customers to retailers, will embrace Nuggets. I’m incredibly excited to be part of a genuine revolution.”
This latest board announcement follows the news, at the end of June, of Nuggets’ partnership with QFPay, the Chinese payment provider used by Asian commerce giants Alipay and WeChat.
QFPay has managed more than 500 million mobile payment transactions to date. Now, Asian merchants using QFPay will also be able to use Nuggets’ unique payments and identity features.
Getronics CEO UK & International’s, Paul Fox will be a busy lad – he has been promoted to Global Head of Sales for Getronics as well as for Pomeroy, which was recently acquired by Getronics, and appointed to Getronics’ Management Board.
The move is part of Chairman and Group CEO Nana Baffour’s latest wave appointments. Fox became CEO of Getronics’ UK & International business units in August 2017, having joined Getronics in October 2014 as Global Business Development Director.
As Global Business Development Director, Fox led Getronics’ global shift to digital solutions while also managing the UK sales organisation in the capacity of CSO. As CEO of Getronics UK & International business units, he had overall responsibility for about 40% of the company’s worldwide revenue.
With a personal philosophy of commitment for the long term, Fox is a proven global business executive noted for his disciplined approach to business development and is the ideal leader for global sales organisation. He has worked previously for Samsung (6 years) and Lexmark (10 years), progressing through increasingly senior sales positions into major international management roles.
Fox said: “My focus at Getronics has been on helping both mid-market and enterprise companies use digital technology to support their business growth objectives. As Getronics’ head of sales for UK & International, my primary focus has been on growth, and I look forward to bringing that experience to bear in my new and expanded role.”
“On behalf of the entire team, I am delighted to welcome Paul to the board,” said Nana Baffour, Chairman and Group CEO of Getronics. “I firmly believe that to grow and to be the best, we must have the best people proposition and be willing to do things differently. Paul not only shares these beliefs but has operated according to them from the day he joined Getronics.”
Former Dell EMC UK chief exec Tim Griffin has joined Exertis parent DCC to head up the firm’s tech division.
Griffin will be responsible for the “strategic direction” of DCC Technology, which trades as Exertis and report to DCC CEO Donal Murphy.
Griffin left his role as Dell EMC’s UK CEO in November 2016.
In a statement he said: “We have all the foundations in place and the support of DCC to take this amazingly vibrant and successful company to the next level. People make the difference in business and we have very talented and driven teams across our diverse range of technologies. I am looking forward to leading and inspiring these teams to even greater success in the future by broadening our reach and ensuring that our customers and people are our key priorities.”
DCC CEO Murphy added: “This is a key appointment and I am delighted that Tim has accepted the challenge and opportunity to grow our technology distribution business and expand our presence in new and existing territories. He brings extensive international experience and expertise with an emphasis on customer relationships, and a history of creating highly engaged teams aligned to strong company values. I am confident that with the great management we have in place and Tim’s leadership qualities, we have an exciting future ahead.”
UK-based data centre thermal optimisation outfit EkkoSense has appointed Jason Kaye as Sales Director. Jason joins the company after seven years in senior EMEA roles at RF Code, the real-time data centre solutions specialist, and will play a key role in building out the EkkoSense partner network and developing international sales.
Jason Kaye brings over 20 years’ data centre, software and networking engineering and sales experience to EkkoSense – most recently from physical asset management and environmental monitoring data centre solutions provider RF Code, where he joined as Director – EMEA Technical Engineering before serving as the company’s EMEA General Manager. Earlier he spent three years in EMEA & APAC technical sales management roles with Uplogix, the network management leader.
EkkoSense’s CEO Dean Boyle said that EkkoSense was growing strongly and is increasingly seen as an innovator when it comes to optimising thermal performance across critical facilities such as data centres.
“Bringing Jason Kaye on board to help drive our next key growth phase is an important appointment for EkkoSense, particularly as we work to take our distinctive thermal optimisation proposition to a broader international market. Jason brings proven sales leadership skills to EkkoSense, while his in-depth knowledge of the real-time environmental monitoring and asset management challenges facing today’s data centre operators will be a significant benefit.”
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