40 Innovative Partner Ecosystem Leaders You Should Follow in 2022

The entire topic of ecosystems is on fire today!

Jay McBain at Forrester declared we are in the early innings of “The Decade of Ecosystem”. We couldn’t agree more! And it’s no wonder. The market has dramatically changed in recent years and transformed the way companies partner together. The days of creating a product and selling it through distributors and reseller partners in a linear channel motion are all but gone.

Today, as the old definitions of partner types have blurred, companies that are winning in the market — regardless of how they were traditionally categorized — are embracing, defining, digitizing, and executing a modern partner ecosystem strategy.

WorkSpan is the category leader in Ecosystem Business Management and, as a result, we are constantly in contact with some of the most innovative, forward-looking partner ecosystem leaders in the industry.

To help you stay on top of this fast-changing market, we’ve assembled a list of some of the most innovative partner ecosystem leaders in the industry you should follow to hear about how they are thinking about the industry, how they’re applying innovative approaches to their company and partners, and how they are helping their organizations win at the ecosystem game.

Without further ado, here is our annual list of 40 Innovative Partner Ecosystem Leaders You Should Follow — 2021 Edition. Follow these ecosystem leaders to learn more about how you can take advantage of partner ecosystems to drive your business forward and win!

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Our List - In Alphabetical Order

AJ Kapase, Vice President, Global Cisco Alliance, Pure Storage

About AJ:

Pure Storage’s Head of Global Alliances, AJ has led many strategic initiatives that helped raise over $500 million in revenue with partnerships and OEM relationships. He leads cross-functional teams aiming to develop joint strategies, solutions, and marketing activities. AJ provides end-to-end GTM execution for his team’s partnerships. His visibility and accountability has gained him respect among strategic partners and C-level executives.

Accolades and Expertise:

Apart from helping raise over $500 million in revenue through partnerships, AJ has been endorsed by many industry experts for his skills in Product Marketing, Developing Go-To-Market Strategy, and Enterprise Software. Massive industry knowledge and business development strategies are behind AJ’s many effective partnership strategies.

Albert J Costello, AVP-Partner Solutions, AT&T

‍About Albert:

For almost 20 years, Albert has shown his experience and skills for AT&T, currently serving as the AVP-Partner Solutions for AT&T’s East Region. A top-class sales executive, Albert has won multiple awards and honors for his work in management and sales positions. He is an expert in regional sales management, sales growth, and building client relations.  

‍Accolades & Expertise:

Albert J Costello grabs a spot on this list because of his immense experience in sales and management for AT&T and expanding market opportunities through solution providers for customer success. His areas of expertise include Strategic Planning and Implementation, Sales Team Management, Revenue & Product Forecasting, Staff Development, Handling High-Profile Clients, Goal Setting and Achievements, etc. He works to achieve new clients and sales within AT&T’s East Region.

‍Content We Love:

Albert regularly shares content on his LinkedIn profile and presented AT&T’s flagship partner event, Fusion, with Will Harvey. At the event, he shared ideas and improvements to the Alliance Channel in order to help AT&T’s Solution Providers.

Andy Gass, Senior Vice President, TechData

About Andy:

Based outside of London, in the Reading area, Andy Gass first joined TechData in 2006 and has performed a multitude of roles for the company over this span. Before his role here, he served as a General Manager for Kellock and the Managing Director for Sage. At TechData, Andy began as a Managing Director and rose to his current position as Senior Vice President. He is highly-motivated towards success and developing successful business partnerships worldwide.

Accolades & Expertise:

Andy’s extensive knowledge and experience in the distribution channel allows him to strategize effective digital business models and lead the go-to-market strategy in Europe. His partner-centric and customer-driven strategy has helped establish new markets and grow sales for TechData over the past years. Andy also serves as TechData’s European Leader and leads key business processes and operations in the region.

Balaji Subramaniam, Global Channel Chief, SVP Channel Sales, IGEL

About Balaji:

Balaji is IGEL’s Global Channel Chief with a love for working in Partnerships, Sales, Products, and Marketing to build and operate GTM strategy and plans. Previous roles at Informatica, Adobe, and CISCO helped Balaji develop into a result-oriented, and thoughtful executive. Balaji has rich experience in leading partner teams through a broad ecosystem of global system integrators, regional solution providers, implementation partners, as well as resellers and distributors worldwide. Sales teams and Partners trust Balaji thanks to his extensive sales and partnering experience and knowledge.

Accolades and Expertise:

Balaji is well-respected in the industry because of  his deep skillset in Sales Capacity Planning, Sales Analytics, and Revenue Planning for Sales Operations leadership and management. Many of his former colleagues at Adobe and Informatica have endorsed his Go-To-Market strategy, Enterprise Software, Program Management, Cloud Computing, and Leadership skills especially for multi-functional teams.

Content We Love:

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Recently, Balaji joined Rob Spee on the Channel Journeys podcast to talk about “What Partners Want More Than Discounts and Rebates” where he shared how important it is to understand your partner’s goals and motivations and to tailor your relationship and benefits to meet those needs – beyond a cookie cutter rebate program.

Barbara Hallmans, Global GTM and Sales Director, Microsoft and SAP Alliance, Hewlett Packard

About Barbara:

Barbara is Senior Director for the HPE GreenLake Ecosystem Strategy at Hewlett Packard. She is a renowned sales executive with a great record in international IT sales, leading cross-functional regional teams, and helping new businesses thrive. Honing great interpersonal and communication skills, Barbara has found success in driving hybrid IT and indirect cloud revenue. She is always up for new challenges and is looking for international business development opportunities.

Accolades and Expertise:

A proven sales executive, Barbara specializes in Channel Sales, Azure, Cloud, Hybrid IT, Alliance Management and Business Development, Cloud Management Software, and Security. A cloud Evangelist, she promoted new initiatives like Cloud 28+ and started Cloud channel sales at Hewlett Packard. Barbara was a participant at HPE Winners Summit 2017 for her exceptional sales record.

Content We Love:

Barbara is really passionate about Cloud Computing and it’s clear when you check out her Twitter or LinkedIn account. She introduced the HPE GreenLake podcast in the above tweet which aims to help HPE Partners with insightful inspiration and information from HPE experts. Partners can use HPE’s edge-to-cloud platform to enhance their business portfolios. Barbara also joined the Ecosystem Aces podcast to speak on how to land strategic partnerships quickly.

Bo Jensen, Head of Partner Operations, Nokia

About Bo:

Bo is based in Munich and leads Nokia’s Partner Operations team, the benefit of his deep knowledge and strong leadership in Telecom industry and Operations. He is responsible for the framework, strategy, and operational support needed to develop a strong channel partner ecosystem for Nokia. Bo has always focused on business growth and offering better value to customers and partners. Innovation, diversity, and efficiency are behind Bo’s business partnership setups.

Accolades and Expertise:

Over his respected career, Bo has fulfilled multiple positions in market and global roles including Supply Chain Operations, Procurement, Supply & Demand Planning, Order Management, Quality Improvement Strategy, and Performance Management. Bo has shown his competence over the years in collaboration, customer centricity, integrated business planning and partnerships, and more.

Bob Lord, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Ecosystems, IBM

About Bob:

Bob is the Senior Vice President of IBM’s Worldwide Ecosystems and Blockchain, responsible for leading the company’s partner systems across global integrators, developers, and independent software providers. He was IBM’s first Chief Digital Officer and has used his innovation to build platforms on Red Hat OpenShift to offer better solutions to partners and clients. He oversees the $4 Billion ecosystem that has IBM’s Supply Chain, Talent Products, and IoT solutions.

Accolades and Expertise:

Forbes, AdAge, and Adweek have recognized Bob for his innovative digital marketing skills and thoughtful leadership. Immense expertise in business strategies and development have helped him land business partnerships for IBM. He has held many responsible positions across his career and currently leads IBM’s Developer Ecosystem and the Weather Company.

Content We Love:

With over 10,000 followers across LinkedIn and Twitter, Bob uses his platform to share all things IBM. In this tweet, he talked about IBM’s partnership with OneTen to create 1 Million jobs for the Black community within the next 10 years.

Carolee Gearhart, Vice President, Worldwide Channel Sales and Global SMB Sales, Google

About Carolee:

Carolee serves as Google’s Global Channel Chief and leads the Global SMB Sales unit for the company. With a focus on combining customer success and technology, she is a mission-driven senior sales executive on the global stage. Carolee looks to partner with high-performing teams in order to achieve sustainable growth and offer the best solutions to customers.

Accolades and Expertise:

CRN has recognized Carolee’s efforts and placed her on the 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs list in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Her area of work extends to Google Cloud Platform and the GSuite channel. Carolee has shown sustained expertise in direct and indirect global sales, training and support for partners, strategic partnerships and business development, enterprise B2B software, and customer success services.

Content We Love:

Carolee recently shared an episode of Bob Evans’ Cloud Wars podcast she and SADA CEO, Tony Safoian joined to discuss delivering cloud services globally at scale working so closely with partners to deliver value to customers. We love hearing Carolee talk passionately about the importance of partners in delivering value to customers across the full lifecycle of customer experience.

Cecilia Flombaum, Worldwide Lead - Business Applications Partners, Microsoft

About Cecilia:

Heading the Worldwide Ecosystem for Microsoft Business Applications, Cecilia is an advocate and firm believer of the theory that partnerships help companies achieve better results through scalability, depth, and expertise. She has worked in 3 different continents over the last 30 years and has used data-driven decision-making to transform organizations and global ecosystems. Currently, Cecilia is responsible for executing and transforming Microsoft’ Partner Strategy at a global scale.

Accolades and Expertise:

Cecilia’s elite-level management, strategy, and business development have helped her run Partner Recruitment in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. She helps Microsoft’ Solution Area achieve a global base through partner recruitment, planning, incentives, go-to-market strategy, local and global co-selling, and new Service partners. Cecilia has championed the ecosystem community at events like Discover Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Inspire.

Content We Love:

Cecilia has a presence on both Twitter and LinkedIn where she shares content related to the Microsoft Partners Ecosystem. In the above post, Cecilia reflected on a successful Microsoft Inspire event connecting and sharing information with Microsoft Partners worldwide.

Cherie Gartner, SVP, Go-To-Market Strategy and Global Head of Strategic Alliances, PTC

About Cherie:

Cherie is the Senior Vice President and Global Head of PTC’s Strategic Alliances with diverse experience in creating strategic business partnerships, managing high-performance teams, and growing businesses. The cloud landscape is constantly evolving and Cherie has proven to help PTC’s partners through effective strategies, added market share, and boosting overall revenue. She is also a member of Chief, a private network that consists of global women leaders, strengthening their leadership skills.

Accolades and Expertise:

Cherie has proven her credentials in growing and managing business, creating and expanding markets, and building strong, long-lasting customer value through partnering. Her area of expertise covers business transformation, professional solutions, advisory, and Cloud Technology. Many of her colleagues and partners have endorsed her Go-To-Market strategy and Business Development skills.

Content We Love:

With around 6,000 LinkedIn followers, Cherie regularly posts about PTC products, solutions, and the Partner Network.  This post honors the positive impact PTC partners are making and why they’re being recognized with Partner Network Awards.

Chris Cale, Vice President, Sales Programs and Operations, SAP

About Chris:

A strategic leader, Chris leads Sales and Operations at SAP, responsible for Program Development, Channel Strategy, and Alliance Management. His knack for turning strategies into successful business operations is renowned and he has over 15 years of experience of working at global software powerhouses like SAP and Microsoft. Chris executes operations to achieve both direct sales and revenue through SAP’s Global Partner Ecosystem. His knowledge has helped global implementation of SAP’s business partnership strategy.

Accolades and Expertise:

Best known for his Business Development and Alliance Management, Chris has widespread experience of developing partner and channel ecosystems. He helps drive revenue through commercial, engagement, and operational techniques. His most effective skills include Strategic Partnerships, Enterprise Software, Multinational Operations, Setting up Organizational Capacity, Team Leadership, and Channel Strategy.

Content We Love:

In this post, Chris shares a video about SAP’s Good Wins Award for their Partner Solutions. It tells how partner sales teams can donate to a charity of their choice and share their success with those in need.

Christopher Jones, AVP, Channel Sales, AT&T Alliance Channel & ACC Business, AT&T

About Christopher:

Christopher Jones is the AVP-Channel Sales for AT&T’s Alliance Channel and has a rich experience working in telecommunications firms. His area of work focuses on increasing production and sales, and boosting overall revenue nationally for Master Agents and their Channel Partners for AT&T. He has a strong skill-set in Sales Operations, Sales Growth, Account Management, Strategic Partnerships, Solution Selling, and Indirect Channels.

Accolades & Expertise:

Christopher has been widely endorsed for skills in Telecommunications, Solution Selling, Direct Sales and Strategy, Marketing, and Strategic Partnerships. He manages AT&T’s Alliance Channel’s Master Agents and Channel Partners, boosting sales and revenue through channel transformation, marketing, retention, and sales effectiveness.

Content We Love:

With almost 4,000 LinkedIn followers, the industry takes notice of what Christopher shares on his social media and LinkedIn profiles.  In this post, Chris shares a recent event bringing together partners for the AT&T Master Agent Operations council meeting.

Colleen Kapase, VP WW Partner & Alliances, Snowflake

About Colleen:

Colleen is the Vice President at Snowflake’s Worldwide Partner team with a career spanning more than 20 years in building and executing sales strategy with partners. Prior to Snowflake, Colleen had a very successful 13 year run at VMware growing the VMware Partner Network to over 35,000 partners delivering quality solutions and customer value around the world.   At Snowflake, Colleen leads all partnering and alliances globally including system integrators, cloud partners, and tech alliances.

Accolades and Expertise:

Snowflake has quickly scaled to one of the fastest-growing data ecosystems to date, and together with partners, has driven tremendous momentum through their cloud-first program. CRN has included Colleen on Women of the Channel Power 100 list for nine consecutive years and she also appeared among the Top Channel Chiefs in 2018 and 2016. Her most endorsed skills are Go-To-Market Strategy in IT, Cloud Computing, Sales Operations and Leadership, Global Alliances, Partner Development, Data Analysis and Monetization, and Partner Relationship Management.

Content We Love:

Colleen is a great champion of the partners her teams are managing and regularly engages and shares successes Snowflake partners have achieved. In this post just last week, attending AWS reinvent, Colleen and the Snowflake partner teams met with partners after so many months of working remotely to grow relationships and plan for 2022 successes.

Craig Gleason, Director of Partnerships, Docebo

‍About Craig:

Docebo’s Partnership Director, Craig, has over 20 years of experience in managing and executing partner strategies to boost productivity at small as well as global SaaS companies, thanks to his entrepreneurial and result-oriented approach. Having worked in over 20 countries across his career, Craig has had ample success in recruitment and sales operations to expand global partnerships and achieve customer as well as partner satisfaction.

Accolades and Expertise:

Craig holds a well-respected position in the industry because of his expertise in Strategy, Business Development, Solution Selling, Account Management, Professional Services, Sales Operations and Management, Enterprise Software, SaaS solutions, Strategic Channel Partnerships, and Team Leadership. Many industry experts have recommended Craig and endorsed his diverse skillset.

Content We Love:

Apart from professional and partner ecosystem content, Craig also treats his LinkedIn and social media followers to inspirational quotes, his thoughts, and other personal and professional musings. This recent post had his thoughts on remote workplaces, and how he’s looking forward to going back to the office.

David Stone, Vice President and GM, Worldwide Ecosystem Sales Leader, HPE

About David:

David is passionate about the change brought by digital disruption and is a proven leader with experience in P&L management, sales operations and strategy, effective growth techniques, McKinsey consulting, and successfully building business partnerships. David has always recruited top talent for a diverse, result-oriented team which he leads with innovative decision-making, agility, and transparent communication.

Accolades and Expertise:

At HPE, David is building the company’s global partner ecosystem and executing successful business strategies. He has deep experience in Alliance Management, P&L, Data Analytics, Communication, High Tech Operations, Large Project Turnaround and Performance, Process Optimization, Strategy and Business Development, etc. “David is a result-oriented achiever that works well with many different clients and their varied objectives.” – Tony Ludlow, Baymark Partners Founder

Content We Love:

David is passionate about his work at HPE and keeps his LinkedIn followers updated about new HPE solutions and events. We of course love this post, where David shared his participation at September’s Ecosystem Business Summit  where he shared a new model for ecosystem partnering and innovations he and HPT are bringing to their partners to continue to grow and succeed together.

Eugene Banks, Vice President - Head of Partnerships & Channels, Ericsson

‍About Eugene:

Eugene is Ericsson’s Head of Partnership & Channels with more than 20 years of experience in managing partner programs, P&Ls, alliances, and pre-sales for multinational companies. His cross-functional and communication skills allow for innovative solutions in the IOT, 5G, and Telecommunications space. He has helped developEricsson’s enterprise software global strategy for enterprise software and services in massive $400M-$2B P&Ls and led due diligence on12 acquisition companies and integrating their services with Ericsson’s.

Accolades and Expertise:

Eugene has proven his credentials across Big Data Analytics, infrastructure management, 5G, IoT, and many other industries. Scaling partner programs, alliance partner strategy, executive relationships, account planning, market strategies, partner ecosystem development, etc. are the skills that make him well-respected among industry peers. He translates strategies into work and builds a winning culture wherever he goes.

Content We Love:

You can stay updated about everything in the world of 5G Telecommunication and IoT by following Eugene Banks across Twitter and LinkedIn. This post shows how Ericsson collaborated with an artist in London in real-time using the 5G technology.  Eugene was also a panelist for the September 2020 Ecosystem Cloud Summit event that focused on 5G and IoT topics.

Jagan Karuturi, VP, Cloud Developer Services, IBM Watson & Cloud Platform, IBM

‍About Jagan:

Jagan is the Vice President of IBM’s Cloud Developer Services and responsible for strategy, engineering, design and product management teams with focus on DevOps Services, programming languages (java, node & swift), Containers, Cloud Foundry platform and bringing together overall developer experience in IBM Cloud (IBM Bluemix). He has a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Texas A&M University and is a renowned professional in product management. Thanks to his elite skills and success-driven mindset, he has worked on multiple software solutions generating billions in revenue.

Accolades and Expertise:

Highly-experienced colleagues at IBM have endorsed Jagan’s Enterprise Software and Cloud Computing skills. His versatility in the IT industry is there because of expertise in Cloud Services, DevOps, Application Runtimes, Requirements Analysis, Container Technology, Cloud Foundry, and IT Management software.

Jason McKinney, Vice President - WW Cloud Sales, NetApp

About Jason:

A successful and experienced executive, Jason has built, managed, and led many global software relationships in the Enterprise C-Suite Market based around Cloud technology. Under Jason’s leadership, global system integration partners have shown excellent service quality, technical expertise, and operational proficiency, accomplishing financial growth and goals. Jason understands the value of ISVs and helps them boost sales and productivity through Cloud Virtualization Technology.

Accolades and Expertise:

Many colleagues at NetApp and executives from other global tech companies have endorsed Jason’s Salesforce, Enterprise Software, and Cloud Computing skills. He focuses on helping businesses and partners eliminate issues faced while leveraging Cloud technology.

“Jason McKinney is a bright, aggressive sales leader with a tremendous work ethic. Jason’s business acumen and financial background enable his ability to shape and provide strong business justification to both the CFO and CIO.” – Jim Theokas, Financial Services Director, ServiceNow

Content We Love:

Jason shared this post last month to his 9,700 LinkedIn followers where he talks about tuning into Microsoft Ignite’s Azure sessions. It sheds light on NetApp Files, Azure’s fast-growing service, developed in partnership between Microsoft and NetApp. He also urges his followers to check out Microsoft Ignite into Focus: Infrastructure.

John Kalvin, Vice President and General Manager Global Partners & Support, Intel

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About John:

John is a growth-focused marketing and global sales leader with a knack of delivering success wherever he goes. He has immense experience in IT including IoT, data centre, etc. along with high-tech sales and channel partner management and leadership. John helps solve complex problems through his simple, passionate, and effective data-driven strategies. His integrity and commitment are loved by Intel’s strategic partners and other industry mainstays.

Accolades and Expertise:

John manages Intel’s Global Partner team and is Vice President for the company’s Marketing, Sales, and Communications group. He has helped scale Intel’s customer support solutions to a global level through his influential, result-oriented, data-driven, and customer-focused sales strategies. Many experts at Intel have endorsed his Multi-Channel Marketing, Semiconductors, and Product Marketing skills.

Content We Love:

In addition to huge experience in global sales, John loves outdoor adventures and is a proud tech enthusiast. Recently, John posted an article about Intel’s renewed emphasis on partnering coining the term Extreme Partnership saying: “Extreme partnership means teaming up around big, bold aspirations, thoughtfully combining our unique capabilities, and executing together to turn a shared vision into reality.”  Indeed!

Jose Van Dijk, Vice President Partner Performance & Operations GPO, CISCO

About Jose:

Jose is the Vice President at Cisco’s Global Partner Organization and aims to improve performance, increase work efficiency, and boost the growth for Cisco and its global partners. She has years of experience handling corporate initiatives, operational plans, and reaching performance and revenue targets. She is a trustworthy leader and has worked in supply chain management, operations, logistics, and customer support for global technology firms.

Accolades and Expertise:

Jose is included in CRN’s Women of the Channel 2020 list and is also recognized as a 2020 Channel Chief. She had a role in Cisco’s Partner Experience Platform launch that focuses on offering the best tools and resources for their partners to succeed in business. Her Cross-Functional Team Leadership, Elite-Level Management, and Result-Oriented Marketing Strategies are widely respected across the industry.

Content We Love:

Jose shared this post at the launch of Cisco’s Partner Experience Platform (PXP)helping partners boost productivity through personalized content and offer better solutions and services to their customers.  (Join us for our upcoming Ecosystem Business Summit event on Jan 13, 2022 where Jose will be a featured speaker!)

Julia Chen, Vice President, Partner Transformation, CISCO

About Julia:

Cisco’s VP for Partner Transformation, Julia Chen helps Cisco channel partners boost their revenue by access to new buying centers, latest business solutions, evolving new business models and strategies, and forming strong customer relationships. Julia has a Master’s in electrical engineering and an MBA from Harvard. She was previously at Boston Consulting Group as a Principal Consultant and Head of Consulting and Business Services and has great interest in both business and modern technology.

Accolades and Expertise:

Julia’s innovative work hasn’t gone unnoticed as she was named in CRN’s Women of the Channel Power 100 and the 2020 Top Channel Chiefs list. Her skills in Business Strategy, Management Consulting, Financial Modelling, Data Analysis, etc. are endorsed by respected industry experts. Julia and her team specialize in offering automated operations, business solutions, tools, incentives, and strategies for their partners.

Content We Love:

Julia is active on her Twitter and LinkedIn profiles and one can know about her love for technology and kind nature through her posts. She rallied for donation to her Sleep Out cause with the Covenant House which aims to help homeless youth and provide them with better opportunities.

Jyoti Banda, Vice President and Global Head of Partner Ecosystem, Wipro

About Jyoti:

Jyoti has served numerous roles at Wipro over the past 27 years and currently heads Wipro’s Global Partner Ecosystem team. Known for her P&L, Practice, and Sales Leadership, she manages all of the company’s worldwide alliances. Jyoti believes in leveraging partnerships and offering joint solutions to customers and partners alike. She leads the Ecosystem team responsible for governance, strategic execution, and business growth of all alliances.

Accolades and Expertise:

Jyoti has been a mainstay at Wipro and served a multitude of rules across her celebrated career. She achieves results using her talents in building vision, creating strategy, developing new markets, Infrastructure services sales including Consumerization, Cloud, Variablization, and thoughtful leadership of alliances and partnerships.

Karl Fahrbach, Chief Partner Officer, SAP

About Karl:

Karl leads SAP’s world-class partner ecosystem organization, supporting partners through digital transformation and transition to Cloud.Karl follows a ‘Partner First’ philosophy to maintain a consistent, transparent, productive, and mutually-beneficial relationship with partners.  Under Karl’s leadership, SAP has made the innovative step of combining all partner organizations under one leader – bringing together channel, services, software, technology, and cloud partners together to drive greater customer value.

Accolades and Expertise:

Having worked previously at global firms like Oracle and Microsoft, Karl always aims to support and benefit partner companies. He helps develop SAP’s partner ecosystem and execute partner strategies through his Team Leadership and Management, Business Development, and Partner Strategy.

Content We Love:

Karl has a combined 4,000 followers across Twitter and LinkedIn where he treats them to modern approaches and solutions for partner ecosystems. This article showcases the importance of aligning partner and customer experience. All SAP customers are engaged with partners at various points along their journey so providing a seamless experience to partners means more happy customers.

Kashif Abbasi, Senior Director - GTM Strategy, Acceleration and Operations, VMware

About Kashif:

Kashif is a senior leader at VMware with proven credentials in operations, strategy, and acceleration across many fields including Channels, Sales, Alliances, Finance, Customer Solutions, and Software. He has a knack of hiring elite-level talent and building businesses from rock bottom. Kashif uses collaborative leadership, along with mentoring and coaching, to keep his teams inspired and engaged towards success. Extensive industry experience in sales and partner operations helps Kashif execute across complete partner and customer lifecycles.

Accolades and Expertise:

Having worked over 20 years at Cisco, Kashif is well-trained in leading tech professionals as well as operation specialists to transform alliances and partners. Kashif uses hands-on strategies for Sales Operations, Go-To-Market, Cloud Transformation, Business Planning and Development, SaaS Acceleration, and Channel Partner Management.

Kevin Ichhpurani, Corporate Vice President, Google

About Kevin:

Kevin is an accomplished, high-tech executive building world-class teams and incubating new businesses. He is particularly adept in strategic planning and business development, ecosystem development, M&A, complex OEM sales, and developing new monetization models and routes to market. Kevin leads the ever-expanding Google Cloud Ecosystem and has previously fulfilled roles at global firms like GE Digital and SAP. Thoughtful leadership and a result-driven approach allows Kevin to build competitive, co-operative partner ecosystems.

Accolades and Expertise:

Many past and present colleagues of Kevin have endorsed his highly-effective Strategic Partnerships, Strategy, and Business Development expertise. These skills have made Kevin proficient in Partner Ecosystem Development, complicated OEM sales, creating new market routes, and monetization models. “Few know the innovation-to-execution process better than Kevin. A strong leader and trusted colleague, he has my full confidence to help shape a new IT industry. I’ll always be in his corner!” – Bill McDermott, ServiceNow President

Content We Love:

Kevin is highly dedicated to build Google Cloud’s global alliances and strategic partnerships. He regularly shares news about new partnerships, solutions, and technology to his LinkedIn profile. In this post, Kevin shares how Google Cloud is expanding its cleaner cloud program by working with sustainability partners to focus on and improve Earth’s climate.

Liz Donovan, VP, Global Partner Operations, PTC

About Liz:

Liz has been a leader at PTC for 9 years and currently holds the office of Vice President Channel Programs and Global Partner Operations, leading operational execution across all partner engagements, including Global System Integrators, OEMs & Strategic Alliance partners. Driven by results and productivity, she is highly passionate and motivated when it comes to Channel Sales, Programs, and Operations. Prior to PTC, she worked at The Channel Company where she developed a deep understanding and experience with channel partners and their relationships with technology vendors.

Accolades and Expertise:

Other than broad experience in Channel Sales, Liz has worked in Editorial Operations and helped CRN curate their annual Channel lists and honors. A highly-motivated professional, she has been endorsed by multiple experts for her Sales Strategy, Solution Selling, and Channel Partnerships.

Content We Love:

Liz shares all the latest news, solutions, and events related to PTC’s Partner Operations. She promoted the PTC Partner Summit in this post where the company’s customers and partners shared their success stories. Leaders talked about various challenges and solutions to help partners advance their operations and achieve business growth.

Marc Rolfe, Senior Vice President, Global Business Development and Ecosystems, SAP

About Marc:

Since 2006, Marc has been a mainstay at SAP, and serves as Senior Vice President of the company’s Strategic Partner Ecosystems. He is a global executive with a rich history of fulfilling business development and sales targets for Professional Services and Enterprise Software companies. Marc is well-versed within partner ecosystems because of his integrity and customer-focused business solutions.

Accolades and Expertise:

Marc is a respected name in the industry and has over 20 years of experience and history working with global organizations. Top executives at SAP and other firms have endorsed his Business Development, Enterprise Software, and Solution Selling acumen. “Marc is a true professional. He is a great listener, tenacious and always looking for ways to drive more value for customers.” – Rae Kyriazis, Global VP Field Transformation and Readiness, SAP

Content We Love:

To stay updated with SAP’s strategic partnerships and business operations, you can join Marc’s 2,700 LinkedIn followers. In this post, Marc shared Satya Nadella’s mention of the strong relationship between SAP and Microsoft in customer’s move to cloud services.

Mark Enzweiler, Senior VP of Global Channels & Alliances, Red Hat

About Mark:

Mark is the Senior Vice President for Red Hat’s Global Channels and Alliances which gives him the benefit of working with some of the most successful IT companies in the world. His career spans over 25 years and he has served various roles at Lenovo and IBM. Mark has experienced many aspects of partnering with Red Hat including marketing, sales, strategy, operations, etc.. He believes that strategic partnerships are challenging but the rewards far outweigh the challenges.

Accolades and Expertise:

With more than 25 years in partner ecosystems, Mark has gained immense knowledge of Channel Sales, Strategy, and Business Development. “Mark was and is the best visionary executive that I have worked for and with in 18 years of IT sales. He is a true leader and mentor to his employees and business colleagues. He creates and leads his teams to exponential success.” – Chris Jordan, Enterprise Account Manager, Google Cloud.

Content We Love:

Mark shares his leadership thoughts and other informational content on Red Hat’s blog. This blog reaffirmed Red Hat’s efforts and commitments to help its global partners during the tough COVID-19 situation.

Martin Noufer, Intel Solution Marketplace - Product Owner & Architect, Intel

About Martin:

Martin leads Intel’s Solution Marketplace with a positive track record of growing programs and businesses. He has managed complex cross-functional teams across many geographies and groups. Martin has worked in media, healthcare, software, semiconductors, and other industries with deep knowledge of sales, finance, operations, and product marketing.  In addition to being a partnering leader at Intel, Martin also has had a successful career as a filmmaker, director, and producer – and is likely the only person on our list with an active profile on IMDB.

Accolades and Expertise:

With a Master’s degree in both Information Communication Sciences and Finance, Martin’s skillset includes Product Marketing, Business Development, Strategic Planning, and Thoughtful Leadership. He is even known for his process improvement, business architecture, market strategy, and social media marketing acumen. Mark has also served in filmmaking as an actor, film producer, director and raised funds for tech startups.

Michelle Ragusa-McBain, Global Lead and Channel Community Evangelist for MSP and XaaS, CISCO

About Michelle:

One of the more highly recognized names in the global technology channel, Michelle is Cisco’s  Global Lead and Channel Community Evangelist for MSP and XaaS. SMB Magazine recognized her as one of the 150 most influential names in the global IT community and Entrepreneur Magazine recognized her as one of 4 people who inspire women to work in Technology. She has also presented at 4 top technology conferences: IT Nation, CRN, Channel Partners, and CompTIA.

Accolades and Expertise:

Michelle has hundreds of endorsements from respected people for her Solution Selling, Cloud Computing, Unified Communications, Global Marketing, Sales Strategy and Operations, etc. focused on improving partner ecosystems. Channel Partners gave her the Circle of Excellence Award and the DE&I Award. Through the Cisco Provider Elevate program, she and her team aim to build and enhance strong relationships and advocacy with industry MSPs service Cisco customers.

Content We Love:

Michelle has almost 20,000 followers across LinkedIn and Twitter with people all over the world taking inspiration from her.  Michelle shares incredibly valuable information for Cisco MSP partners like this post about an upcoming panel discussion with Cisco partners. Michelle is also a passionate advocate for important topics like diversity and inclusion, women in technology, leadership and kindness, and more.

Neil Prasad, Head of Global Technology Alliances, Fortinet

About Neil:

Neil Prasad is Fortinet’s Global Technology Alliances head and a rigorous executive with ample experience in project management, business partnerships, and marketing. Over the past 20 years, he has a proven track record of delivering success through the marketing and development of industry-changing products and customer solutions. Neil launched Fortinet’s Fabric-Ready Strategic Alliance program that’s resulted in over 400 technology integrations for Fortinet with partners worldwide. In the cybersecurity industry, Fortinet’s Open Fabric Ecosystem is one of the top partner ecosystems, thanks to Neil.

Accolades & Expertise:

Neil has helped Fortinet reach new heights because of his expertise in Networking, Security, Cloud, Mobile, SaaS, Communications, and Wireless. During his 15 year run at Cisco, Neil had pivotal roles in closing significant business including several key $100M+ strategic customer wins. “I have known Neil Prasad for many years and he is one of the best technologists and hiring managers I have had the pleasure to work with.” – Mark Hill, Executive Search Professional

Content We Love:

Cybersecurity enthusiasts can follow Neil’s LinkedIn page to stay updated with all latest industry news. This post talked about Fortinet’s integration with Guardicore. Through this partnership, a host of new solutions like security controls, security protection, Zero Trust Segmentation were showcased.

Nina Harding, Chief of Global Partner Strategy & Programs, Google

About Nina:

Nina is an experienced marketing executive and she currently leads Google’s Global Partner Strategy and Programs, having worked previously at SAP, Microsoft, and Oracle. She has successfully used GTM strategy and effective business development techniques in the past for developing partner ecosystems and customer confidence. Growing Google’s global partnerships, Nina has helped raise over $1 Billion through channel partners and tech sales.

Accolades and Expertise:

Nina’s experience and strategic marketing skills have put Google Cloud in the Gartner’s top quadrant within one year. She has helped Google’s partner ecosystem grow through her Partner Management, Branding, Customer Relationship, Management, Pre-Sales, and Go-To-Market Strategy. Nina has a rich history of leading dynamic channel and partner ecosystems.

Content We Love:

Nina regularly shares Google Cloud content and information about the partner program. Nina was one of the 11 women from Google Cloud who placed on CRN’s Women of the Channel list, showing her passion and commitment to encouraging other partner leaders in their professional development. .

Oliver Tuszik, Senior Vice President, Global Partner Organization, CISCO

About Oliver:

Oliver is Senior Vice President, Global Partner Sales at Cisco leading  its global partnership team. Working with highly-skilled teams, he helps solve complex business issues using modern innovative technology designed to leave a lasting impression on customers. He is curious, open-minded and always open to learn more. Oliver loves challenges, Mathematics, and the Six Sigma principles. You can find him driving his Jeep in his free time.

Accolades and Expertise:

Oliver Tuszik was included in CRN’s 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs in both 2019 and 2020, thanks to his diverse thinking and out-of-the-box solutions to complex problems. Some of his well-endorsed skills include IT Outsourcing, Managed Services, Cloud Computing, and Telecommunications. He has helped over 60,000 Cisco partners achieve their goals by leveraging their unique skills and strategies.

Content We Love:

You can find many educational and inspiring content on Oliver’s LinkedIn page. He was a part of Cisco’s Partner Summit, aired for 24 hours and viewed by Cisco partners all over the globe. The event was a success, aiming to help partners achieve success in their operations.

Owen Taraniuk, Global SVP Partners, Sitecore

About Owen:

Owen is Senior Vice President of Partners at Sitecore. A creative, entrepreneurial sales and business leader, Owen has elevated many regional and global operations by creating unique digital connections with clients and partners. He has a knack of building organizations with professionalism and commitment for developing new operations and entering new markets. Owen has strong industry experience and executives love his EBIT growth, stability, talent retention, and diversity.

Accolades and Expertise:

Owen was honored by CRN on their 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs list in 2019. His most-endorsed skills are Go-To-Market Strategy, Management, and Organizational Leadership but he is also efficient in E-Commerce, CDP, CX, Data Management, ERP, Cloud Solutions, SaaS offerings, and enterprise content management.

Content We Love:

Owen regularly updates his LinkedIn and Twitter followers about Sitecore and their  partners and alliances. In this post, congratulating the newly announced Partner of the Year award winners earlier this year.

Sandy Hogan, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Commercial and Partner Sales, VMware

About Sandy:

Sandy is Senior Vice President, Worldwide Commercial and Partner Sales and leads a highly-skilled team to build the best partner ecosystem and generate extensive value and business growth at VMware. Having spent 15 years at Cisco, Sandy is always curious about growing customer base and sales revenue through cutting-edge solutions. She is dedicated to offering the best solutions to partners and customers by her business development and effective partner strategies.

Accolades and Expertise:

Sandy’s professionalism and hard work haven’t gone unnoticed and she was honored with the Making Business Relevant and Silicon Valley Tribute to Women Award in 2013. Her Go-To-Market Strategy, Business Development, and Partner Strategy skills are well-respected among the IT world.

Content We Love:

Sandy has a fantastic network of over 8,000 LinkedIn and 1,500 Twitter followers who get to learn from the amazing content she shares. She took part in Channel Futures Q&A, where she talks about the VMware partner ecosystem strategy and her recommendations to embrace a partner-first culture at the company.

Scott Jones, Director, Partner Programs & Alliances, T-Mobile

About Scott:

Scott heads the indirect channel sales unit for T-Mobile and is responsible for business operations and go-to-market strategy. For over 20 years, Scott has been working in sales and program management for IoT, telecommunications, and related industries. He has managed complex projects worth millions and led collaborations between partners and customers. Innovation in the technology landscape and able leadership allows him to achieve business targets and partner goals.

Accolades and Expertise:

Extensive expertise in Business Development, Telecommunications, Cross-Functional Team Leadership, and GTM strategy helps Scott lead effective business partnerships on a global scale. His knowledge of the industry and market helps translate insights into effective business operations.

Content We Love:

Scott was in a festive mood and shared T-Mobile’s Pay Away the Layaway program with his LinkedIn followers. T-Mobile’s employees, partners, and communities give away every season. This year the company will help those in need by donating $1 Million.

Tom Roberts, Global Vice President, Software Solutions, SAP

About Tom:

Senior Vice President for SAP’s Software Solutions Program, Tom has over 20 years of experience in the software and information technology, specializing in both execution and strategy. Tom and his team built the Solutions Extensions business for SAP, leading to revenues of over €1B for the company. Over his career, Tom has partnered with global ISV software companies in cloud and on premise, who are vital to SAP’s partner strategy and customer solutions.

Accolades and Expertise:

Over 20 years in the industry have helped Tom’s Corporate Development, Channel Sales, Industry Solutions, Product Strategy, and Operations skills grow. “Tom is an experienced leader with vision and a clear ability to positively influence an organization of any size. A proven leader in good times and bad.” – Darryl Gray, Global VP, Software Management, SAP.

Content We Love:

Tom shares posts and articles about SAP’s partner recognitions, cloud solutions, events, and partner program. Tom recently shared this video announcing a new SAP “Good Wins” award for partner software solutions that deliver customer value and give back through Global Giving.

Tom Stuermer, Global Managing Director - Google Business Group, Accenture

About Tom:

Accenture has built a fast-growing partnership with Google and Tom Stuerner is the Global Managing Director of Accenture’s Google business partnership. Using industry vertical solutions, cloud computing, AI data, and digital marketing, Tom and his business unit drive the Google partnership and joint customer value forward. Prior to leading the Google Business Group, Tom was responsible for the Accenture Ecosystem organization in order to, as Tom puts it, “weaponize Accenture’s ecosystem to enable dramatic transformation for our clients through joint innovation and market development with our Ecosystem partners – at scale”

Content We Love:

Tom regularly shares insightful content and posts to his LinkedIn and Twitter followers. Tom recently shared an upcoming meeting for “Women Leading Enterprise Digital Transformation” including a conversation with impressive women leaders in technology about their careers and opportunities for women in the cloud.

Tracy-Ann Palmer, Vice President Partner Programs and Experience, VMware

About Tracy-Ann:

Tracy-Ann is VMware’s Vice President of Partner Programs and Experience  and is well-experienced in alliances and partnerships, thanks to her love for technology, community, team, philanthropy, and mentoring. She has held previous positions at global firms like Salesforce, Cisco, AWS, and Rackspace. A South African expatriate, Tracy-Ann knows how to find ideal resources, bring together communities, develop partnerships, and create growth opportunities.

Accolades and Expertise:

Tracy-Ann’s skillset ranges from Business Development, Strategy, Alliance Management, Sales, etc. 13 years ago, she founded the We Build Character organization, a not-for-profit organization focused on growing and strengthening the workforce through powerful leadership mentoring programs. . She also founded the Midwest Technology Leaders to connect the region’s senior IT professionals.  

Content We Love:

Tracy-Ann has worked with partner programs for over 13 years and is dedicated to build highly-skilled teams. She shared this post to her 5,400 LinkedIn followers, telling them how thoughtful leadership can help impact others’ lives positively.

Uma Thana Balasingam, Vice President - Partner & Commercial Organization, Asia Pacific & Japan, VMware

About Uma:

Uma heads VMware’s partner program in the Asia Pacific and Japan region and has over 20 years of experience in the industry. She is a versatile, passionate, and dynamic sales executive known for her risk-taking and bold business decisions. Working in both emerging and global firms, Uma enables organic growth, reverses lacklustre markets, motivates existing teams, and grows new channels. She loves creating new connections and friendships thanks to her curiosity and self-confidence.

Accolades and Expertise:

Many industry professionals have lauded Uma’s skills in Solution Selling, Channel Partners, Cloud Computing, Daring Leadership, Sales Management, and Ecosystem Acceleration Software. Uma founded Lean In Singapore and Lean in Women in Tech Asia. CRN named Uma in the Most Powerful Women of the Channel list and she is also there in Singapore’s Top 100 Women in IT.

Content We Love:

A well-respected and global name, Uma has over 10,000 LinkedIn followers. In this Channel Asia article, Uma is interviewed about the launch of VMware’s biggest channel overhaul, Partner Connect. Uma talks about changes and mindset shifts that will transform VMware and its global partners.