ForeScout Channel Chief Leaves To Join Business Process Application Company

After joining ForeScout Technologies at the beginning of the year, channel chief Tom Evans has stepped down to take a sales and channel leadership role at business process application company K2 Software, CRN has learned.

Evans officially resigned from the Campbell, Calif.-based network access control company at the beginning of last week.

Evans took the position of vice president of Americas channel sales in January, replacing Devin Archer, who left the security startup to be head of channels for Warren, N.J.-based risk management and cyberthreat intelligence vendor Prevalent. Evans had joined ForeScout from F5 Networks, where he was senior director of channel sales and distribution for the Americas.

[Related: ForeScout Lands $76M In New Funding, Hits Unicorn Status As It Invests In Beating Cisco]

In an interview with CRN, Evans said he was sorry to jump ship from ForeScout so soon but added that the new position at K2 is a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"I have nothing bad to say about my time at ForeScout. … I think the technology is awesome and they will do really good things. But, this was the kind of an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up," Evans said.

ForeScout CEO Michael DeCesare told CRN he was disappointed that Evans decided to leave the company, praising his operational skills and personality.

"I don’t have anything negative to say about the guy. I'm super disappointed he didn’t work out for us. … I wish him the best of luck," DeCesare said.

Evans said he will serve as senior vice president of channel and inside sales at K2, responsible for building out the Seattle-based company's channel and sales strategy. Evans said that will include fostering better relationships with partners, launching a new partner program, and hiring a significant amount of new sales personnel.

DeCesare said the new role seems like a good fit for Evans' skills and partner philosophies, giving him the chance to help a smaller company build a partner program from the ground up.

While he didn't know Evans personally, Kevin Pouche, chief operating officer at Brookline, Mass.-based K logix Security, said he hopes his successor will continue the channel push started by ForeScout in recent years.

"I think [ForeScout is] doing a really good job so far transitioning into a channel-friendly [company]," Pouche said.

DeCesare said ForeScout is looking for a replacement for Evans right now and plans to turn the role into a worldwide channel chief position reporting to Brian Gumbel, head of worldwide commercial sales. DeCesare said he will be particularly looking for a candidate that can be externally facing to the partners and strong operationally. He said ForeScout will communicate further about the transition to partners at that time.

"I'm confident we can find someone who will be a rock star," DeCesare said.