Star2Star Hires Former Polycom Exec To Drive Global Channel Expansion

Cloud-based unified communications specialist Star2Star Communications hired former Polycom executive Gary Testa as its new president and chief revenue officer with the goal of quickly expanding the company globally and on-boarding new partners.

"I'm going to be very focused on working with and on-boarding new partners that are focused on the mid- to large enterprise space -- that would be MSPs and folks with deep experience in the enterprise," said Testa in an interview with CRN. "I'm bringing a world of international experience and we're going to expand globally starting in Europe, then Asia-Pacific."

The president and chief revenue officer roles are new to Sarasota, Fla.-based Star2Star. Testa previously served as global vice president of Polycom's Cloud and Service Providers Solutions Group, leading the company's global sales, strategy and execution.

[Related: Partners: Possible Polycom-Mitel Merger Has 'Huge Potential' ]

Testa's move to Star2Star comes as unified communications vendors Polycom and Mitel reportedly are pursuing a merger. The potential merger reportedly is being spurred by Elliott Management, which owns stakes in both companies.

"We are in a fabulously fast-growing space, but also one that's consolidating. So a key strategy of mine is, as that consolidation takes place, the value is going to go to the leaders, the innovators and those with a differentiation," said Testa. "I'm not interested in being a fast follower. We're going to be a leader."

The Unified Communications-as-a-Service market is growing at an annual rate of 16 percent, with revenue from UCaaS currently at $4 billion, according to a recent Synergy Research Group report.

Testa will be responsible for leading Sarasota, Fla.-based Star2Star's overall sales strategy, international and new market expansion, and its go-to-market execution. He will report to CEO Norman Worthington.

Star2Star provides products and services around voice, conferencing, messaging, SIP trunking and contact center. The vendor touts itself as being able to deliver the world's most complete and scalable cloud communications solution. Its solutions are sold through partners including MSPs, master agents, distributors and certified installing dealers. The company has 800 channel partners in North America.

Testa said Star2Star's philosophy is for its channel partners to "own" the customer, driving revenue through services. With 30 years of experience on a global basis, Testa said he will drive expansion alongside its channel partners in a timely manner.

"We're going to expand globally very aggressively and we're going to do that with partners. I have 30 years of global experience and a lot of contacts," said Testa. "We can built that team very quickly and begin to execute."