New Role for Juniper’s Global Channel Chief
Looking forward, Juniper Global Channel Chief Frank Vitagliano will be spending more time closer to home — working with partners across the Americas. Specifically, Vitagliano is transitioning from Senior VP, Worldwide Channels to the new position of Senior VP, Partners-Americas. The move comes as Juniper prepares for its Americas Partner Conference (May 24-26, Phoenix, Ariz.). Here are the details.
First, the official news: Juniper‘s Americas enterprise business grew roughly 25 percent in 2009 vs. 2008. Pretty darn impressive, considering 2009 was a painful economic year for most networking companies. Sensing opportunity to further accelerate that business, Vitagliano is shifting his personal focus from a global emphasis to an Americas emphasis. Now, the search is on for a new global channel chief; candidates will likely include internal channel pundits as well as external experts.
During a phone chat this morning, Vitagliano expressed an eagerness to work far more closely with Americas partners. “I really enjoy the field piece of the job; I want to go back into the field and get reengaged on a much, much closer level” with Americas partners, Vitagliano said.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Sounds logical to The VAR Guy. But our resident blogger was curious: Was the global position wearing on Vitagliano? The VAR Guy assumes the global position required Vitagliano to live on a plane, meeting regional Juniper channel leaders on a non-stop basis.
“Sure, I looked at it and obviously the balance between personal and professional [commitments] came into the decision,” said Vitagliano. “When you’re spending 80 to 90 percent of your life on the road continuously you wear down a bit.”
Still, Vitagliano shifted the conversation back to the role at hand. “I really enjoy the day-to-day touch with the business partners. I wasn’t getting that as much in a worldwide role.” When Juniper decided to create the Senior VP, Partners-Americas position, Vitagliano raised his hand for it, he added.
So, what about the global channel chief position? Juniper is looking for candidates both internally and externally. “There’s a tremendous amount of channel talent within Juniper,” said Vitagliano. “I’d stack our folks up against anybody.”
Even so, Juniper will conduct a careful global channel chief search that also includes external candidates. “For all intents and purposes, we’d like to fill the position as soon as possible. But these things tend to take some time.”
Oh, And About That Partner Summit
Meanwhile, Juniper’s executive team is preparing for the Americas Partner Conference (May 24-26, Phoenix, Ariz.). CEO Kevin Johnson will reinforce Juniper’s New Network strategy. And keep an eye out for Chief Marketing Officer Lauren Flaherty to describe how Juniper will create customer pull for partners. As part of the effort, Juniper is expected to unveil a Marketing Resource Center for channel partners.
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