The Top 25 Channel Sales Leaders Of 2013

The Channel Sales Leaders

There's a saying in football that no lead is safe. Right now, perhaps more than at any other time, that applies to the IT industry as well. As the pace of technology evolution quickens, no IT company, no matter how big and dominant it may be, is invulnerable. Smaller companies and startups, meanwhile, find themselves battling in an ever-more competitive IT arena to survive, let alone thrive.

As part of our ranking of the Top 100 Executives Of 2013, CRN looks at the 25 channel sales leaders who take all that vision and technology and make it real for solution provider partners.

25. Phil Sorgen

Corporate VP, Worldwide Partner Group, Microsoft

A 17-year veteran of Microsoft, Sorgen was appointed as the company's worldwide channel chief earlier this year after heading up Microsoft's U.S. SMB partner business. Sorgen's goal is to help the software company become more of a "devices and services" company with its cloud and Surface products.

24. Chris Jones

VP, Partner Sales, Juniper Networks

After spending several years at Cisco, Jones made the jump to Juniper's channel team in 2010. Earlier this year he was promoted to head of Americas partners under Juniper's newly merged commercial and channel operations. Now he's focused on getting partners to explore cloud and software-defined networking markets.

23. Bryan Wood

VP, U.S. Channels, Fortinet

Wood joined Fortinet in 2006 and has worked his way up through the channel ranks over the years to become head of U.S. channel sales at the security appliance maker this year. In his new position, he'll be responsible for boosting channel sales and getting traction with the FortiPartner Program.

22. Tom Gall

Director, Channel Marketing, Xerox

Gall joined Xerox in 2011 after spending many years at Tektronix working with partners. As Xerox moves to more cloud- and services-focused offerings such as managed print services and Xerox's eConcierge software, Gall is encouraging partners to make the leap as well.

21. Dave Carlquist

VP, Systems & Technology Group, Worldwide Channel, IBM

After spending more than 30 years at Big Blue, Carlquist is now leading the company's indirect sales strategy as global channel chief. As IBM shifts more to enterprise software and business analytics, he's setting up a road map to help partners navigate new opportunities.

20. Eric Martorano

GM, U.S. Channel Sales, Microsoft

Since joining the company in 2008, Martorano has been one of the strongest channel advocates inside Microsoft. Recently promoted to general manager of U.S. partner sales at the software company, Martorano is leading the charge with top partners toward new mobile devices and cloud services.

19. Herve Tardy

VP, GM, Eaton

Eaton has expanded from its power management base into new software and virtualization markets with products such as the company’s Intelligent Power Software Suite. At the head of some of those moves is Tardy, who's taking Eaton's Distributed Power Quality Business Unit to new heights.

18. Brooks McCorcle

President, Emerging Business Markets, AT&T

A 22-year veteran of AT&T, McCorcle is leading the telecom giant's push in emerging markets and the IT channel. With the recent launch of AT&T's Partner Exchange program, she's now working to bring in more partners to sell and support AT&T's extensive service offerings.

17. Janet Schijns

VP, Medium Business, Channels, Verizon

In recent years Verizon has gone from a wireless carrier leader to a major force in telecom and cloud services in the channel. And now the company has a sturdy channel strategy to back up that transformation, led by Schijns, who joined Verizon in 2010.

16. Craig Schlagbaum

VP, Indirect Channels, Comcast Business Class Services, Comcast

Few telecom executives have been as visible and diligent about the channel as Schlagbaum. He joined Comcast Business's channel team in 2011 and since then has guided the company's partner recruitment push and expansion into the IT channel.

15. Jay Bradley

CEO, Intelisys

A longtime telecom executive, Bradley joined Intelisys Communications in 2002 and has been a major advocate for the telecom master agent's channel evolution. In addition to channel convergence in the telecom market, Bradley has his company on top of the growing cloud services opportunity.

14. Kimberly Lasseter

Director, Worldwide Alliances, Channels, Oracle

A Sun Microsystems veteran, Lassester joined Oracle in 2010 after the software maker's acquisition of Sun. Now Lasseter is leading the combined company's worldwide channel strategy as Oracle looks to increase its channel business with a full enterprise software and hardware stack.

13. Michael and Dan Schwab

Co-Presidents, D&H Distributing

As co-presidents of D&H Distributing, the Schwab brothers have kept the 95-year-old company on top of the latest technology shifts and market changes in the IT industry and made sure that D&H is still the go-to source of products for SMB solution providers.

12. Gregg Ambulos

SVP, Global Channel Sales, EMC

A veteran EMC channel executive, Amublos has been a stable presence at the storage giant for years. He joined EMC in 1997 and has been a crucial part of the company's shift to indirect sales and the introduction of EMC's first official partner program.

11. Terry Richardson

VP, U.S. Channel Sales, Enterprise Group, Hewlett-Packard

Another key player on HP's channel team, Richardson, a former EMC executive, joined HP in 2010. Last year he was tapped to head the tech giant's U.S. enterprise channel sales. Prior to taking that post, Richardson led channel sales for HP's growing storage business.

10. Scott Dunsire

VP, GM, Printing & Personal Systems, Americas Channels, Hewlett-Packard

HP's recent channel renaissance has a lot of architects, and one of them is Dunsire. After joining HP's imaging and printing business in 2007, he's risen to become head of channels for the company's biggest and most crucial business unit: PCs and printers,

9. Frank Vitagliano

VP, Channel Sales, Dell

A veteran channel executive, Vitagliano worked at IBM and Juniper for many years before joining Dell. As Dell transitions from a public entity to a private one and works to integrate newly acquired companies and technology, Vitagliano will be on the ground working closely with partners.

8. Frank Rauch

VP, Americas Partner Organization, VMware

The virtualization software leader has become one of the hottest vendors in the channel over the past few years, and a big reason why has been the addition of strong partner-centric DNA such as that of Rauch, a veteran HP executive who joined the VMware channel team in 2012.

7. Greg Taylor

VP, Enterprise Sales, Samsung

Though it may seem like it, Samsung didn't become a major IT player and Apple archrival overnight. The company can thank executives such as Taylor, who joined the Korean tech giant in 2009 and has been a strong proponent of Samsung's major B2B push and channel evolution.

6. Steve Dallman

VP, Sales, Marketing Group, BM, Worldwide Reseller Channel Organization, Intel

Dallman first joined the world's largest chip maker in 1979 as a field sales engineer and since then has steadily risen through the ranks to become Intel's global channel chief, where he's now focused on helping partners access new data center and mobility opportunities.

5. Chris Frey

VP, North Americas Commercial Channels, Lenovo

Lenovo has emerged as a PC powerhouse in recent years, winning both market share and partners with its relentless approach. Part of that approach comes from channel chief Frey, who's been a key player behind Lenovo's impressive channel growth and its progress in newer markets such as servers.

4. Kevin Gilroy

SVP, Global Indirect Channels, SAP

A widely respected channel executive, Gilroy spent many years at Hewlett-Packard before heading to SAP to take over both North American and global channel operations in 2010. In addition to building up the enterprise software maker's indirect sales, Gilroy is focused on helping partners embrace cloud opportunities.

3. Greg Davis

VP, GM, Global Commercial Channels, Dell

Davis has accomplished some tough feats since getting Dell's first channel program off the ground, helping the computer maker shift toward indirect sales and winning over solution providers as a trusted vendor partner. Now he'll be charged with taking Dell's channel strategy to the next level as it becomes a complete IT player.

2. Rob McKernan

SVP, APC by Schneider Electric

McKernan joined Schneider Electric in 2008 as head of the Americas region and since that time, he's helped extend the company's dominant position in the power supply market with the APC brand. Now APC is working to move beyond simple hardware and help partners build out their data center services.

1. Edison Peres

Cisco Systems, SVP, worldwide channels

It's no wonder that Cisco's channel business is the envy of the industry. The networking giant does more than 80 percent of its sales through partners, and its strategy consistently earns praise from solution providers big and small. A big reason Cisco has stayed at the top of the channel mountain is its leadership team, namely Edison Peres, the company's longtime head of worldwide channels. After joining Cisco more than a decade ago, he's helped guide the company's channel strategy with a steady hand and a firm commitment over the years through major technology shifts, economic downturns and corporate restructuring. Many things have changed over the past 10 years, but Peres' channel-first approach isn't one of them.