CA Technologies Promotes Former Cloud GM To Channel Chief Role

Looking to give a boost to its channel strategy, CA Technologies Wednesday named Adam Famularo as senior vice president of North American partner sales.

A 15-year veteran of CA, Famularo spent the last year as senior vice president and general manager of the AppLogic Business Unit, which is the software maker's cloud platform business. Prior to that, he served as senior vice president and general manager of cloud computing across all of CA. In an exclusive interview with CRN, Famularo said he's looking to bring that cloud experience to the forefront as the vendor attempts to build up its indirect sales.

"The one thing I've always gotten from partners in recent years has been a question about cloud," Famularo told CRN. "They ask about how they can sell SaaS [software-as-a-service], and how they can transform their business models to take advantage of cloud services. And I think I can help answer those questions and help them transition their businesses."

[Related: CA Technologies Partners See Progress In Vendor's Channel Efforts ]

In addition to steering partners toward cloud and SaaS opportunities, Famularo has two other areas of focus for his early tenure as North American channel chief. First, he plans to strengthen ties and work more closely with the vendor's top premiere-level partners. And second, he is looking to identify and fill gaps or "white space" where CA doesn't have enough channel coverage.

"What I really want to be able to do," Famularo said, "is to marry the different products we have with partners that have those specializations. Instead of just trying to bring all of our products to one partners, we want to find the right products for the partners that are strong in that specific area."

For example, Famularo said he wants to bring the company's new mobile device management software, dubbed CA MDM, to a great number of mobility-focused solution providers.

While Famularo said he plans to recruit new partners to CA going forward, he wouldn't say how many the company hopes to have. "There will be net-new partners added to our partner program," he said.

Long known for its direct sales approach and at times tumultuous channel strategy, CA has changed its ways in recent years to become a more partner-centric vendor. At its 2011 CA World Conference, the software company introduced a new channel strategy and a revamped partner program, which have won over solution providers. Famularo said he plans to build on that progress as channel chief.

"As a company, we're spending a lot more time and effort looking at where partners fit into our go-to-market strategy," he said. "We don't have enough feet on the street to grow this company with a direct sales model. We need to boost our indirect sales to grow."

PUBLISHED NOV. 6, 2013