CA Shifts Executive Lineup To Push Cloud, Channel Business

CA has reorganized its channel leadership with the appointment of new executives in charge of its cloud and data protection business organizations and the naming of a former Websense's channel chief to manage its storage channel strategy.

With the executive changes, CA is making clear that it is emphasizing cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service and the ties between them and its fast-growing storage business.

The company on Tuesday said that Mike Crest has been appointed the company's new general manager of its Recovery Management and Data Modeling organization.

Crest, a 12-year CA veteran, takes over that position from Adam Famularo, who is moving to a new role as the general manager of CA's Cloud Customer Solutions Unit.

CA has also hired David Roberts as vice president of channel strategy for the Recovery Management and Data Modeling organization.

Roberts, a highly-regarded channel veteran, spent four years as senior vice president Americas channel sales at Websense, where he built the company's two-tier distribution strategy as well as a global channel program. He left Websense in January.

Larry Dannemiller, president of Business Security Solutions, a Houston-based security integrator who worked with Roberts at Websense, said he will consider adding CA products to his portfolio with the appointment of Roberts.

"We thrived under David Roberts, and were able to grow our revenues 15 to 20 percent based on his execution at Websense," Dannemiller said. "This is of interest to me since we are not currently selling any CA products today. We are a security company, but storage and security products overlap at many intersections."

The new appointments come at a time when CA is looking at how to better take its technology to managed service providers and to the cloud while taking advantage of the growing momentum of its storage business, Crest said.

The storage market is currently in a state of flux, which means opportunities for channel partners, Crest said.

"We can help partners take advantage of our technology to do on-premises and off-premises strategies, both with tape and disk technologies and with the cloud," he said.

Fundamental to CA's execution is working with channel partners, which is where Roberts comes in, Crest said.

Next: Taking The Storage Business Towards Services And The Cloud

CA has invested $20 million in the rollout of its new ArcServe 15 data protection software, which includes such features as embedded deduplication, disk-to-disk backups, and replication and high availability, and which has been designed to also be part of a MSP offering, Crest said.

"You take all that stuff, combine it with better profitability for partners, more services associated with it, and add in David Roberts' focus on partners, and I could not be more excited," he said.

Roberts takes over the channel side of CA's storage portfolio at a time when that business, which is 100 percent channel-focused, is growing on a year-over-year basis by double digits and is moving more and more toward becoming a services and cloud offering.

"We'll look at partner profitability," he said. "We'll think in terms of partner requirements. When you look at the customer environment and our partners' business, there are a lot of costs going up. We can develop recurring revenue, and drive recurring services revenue without partners needing to add systems engineers."

Famularo's move to run CA's Cloud Customer Solutions Unit, along with Crest's appointment to run CA's Recovery Management and Data Modeling organization, comes just two months after the two organizations were formed.

Famularo had been running the two organizations while looking for someone to take over the Recovery Management and Data Modeling organization, letting him focus on CA's cloud strategy.

"As an organization, we're looking to bring out an extreme focus on a couple of key areas," he said. "CA asked me to take my experience and use it to build a new cloud business. And we needed someone to take over my RMDM business and build on its momentum."

Next: CA Needs To Move To Services, Or The Competition Will

CA as a company needs to shift its business away from selling software and providing technology to help partners do more with cloud computing and providing services, said Kevin Burke, senior vice president of global sales at TechTeam Global, a Southfield, Mich.-based provider of multilingual outsourced IT support services to global enterprises.

It is something that all software vendors, and not just CA, needs to do, Burke said. "The market is shifting to the cloud," he said. "Customers no longer want the capital expense related to purchasing software. They want to shift to services and turning it into an operating expense."

Companies which ignore the shift do so at their own peril, Burke said. "If they don't have software as a SaaS product, they have to start moving that way," he said. "Otherwise, the competition will do it."

Burke said he has worked with Crest for three years, and knows that Crest is the right man to be in charge of that shift at CA.

"Mike (Crest) is a very seasoned executive," he said. "He really understands the customer, and is very good at marshalling CA resources for the customer. He has been doing this for years."

For a company like CA, it is important that someone like Crest understands SaaS and CA equally well, Burke said.

"His ability to understand customer requirements, and leverage CA resources to address customer issues -- that's why he is the right guy," he said. "You can bring in someone who understands SaaS and services, but who may not know CA in depth. Mike does."

Next: Famularo's Appointment Shows CA Is Serious About The Cloud

Bob Venero, president of Future Tech Enterprise, a national solution provider headquartered in Holbrook, N.Y., said he sees Famularo's appointment to head CA's Cloud Customer Solutions Unit as a sign that the channel will play a bigger role in the cloud with CA.

"Adam (Famularo) is very channel friendly," he said. "Where a lot of organizations are trying to take cloud business direct, there is no doubt that Adam is going to embrace the channel in his new role."

Future Tech made a big bet on CA's storage products with Famularo leading that business, and prospered with a 600 percent increase in CA business this year. "Before Adam we didn't do a lot of channel business with CA," said Venero. "I am looking to capitalize on that success and ride it into the cloud with CA."

Venero said he hopes Crest and Roberts maintain the channel momentum started under Famularo. "I hope they will continue to enhance and potentially change it for the better," he said of the new channel leadership in the storage group. "They could easily make a turn in any one direction that could lead to better engagement or worse engagement with the channel."

Venero said the combination of Crest's internal knowledge of CA and Roberts' channel leadership brings a "good balance" to the CA storage business.