Channel People on the Move: Frontier, TBI, AireSpring, More
Though the temps were chilly, February was red-hot for channel people on the move.
Though the temps were chilly, February was red-hot for channel people on the move.
Among those featured in this latest edition are a new channel chief at Frontier Communications; a new sales director and a pair of channel managers at TBI — two of whom have backgrounds at Windstream; plus, two important additions to the Rackspace team from EarthLink and Dell EMC.
But that’s just a drop in the bucket.
And don’t forget: You don’t have to wait for the first of each month to see the latest hires and promotions in the telecom and IT channels. We have a web page dedicated to them 24×7!
Click through the gallery below to see 18 friends, colleagues and rivals who recently have changed jobs. They’re the channel managers who make local and regional decisions, as well as the CEOs who make important calls that trickle down.
Missed last month’s “people” gallery? Click here to see who was on the move in January.
Follow executive editor @Craig_Galbraith on Twitter.
Frontier Communications' Roy Labrador
Frontier Communications appointed Roy Labrador, a telecommunications executive with more than 25 years of experience in small, medium and enterprise sales, to national vice president of its channel partners program. He most recently was Frontier’s vice president of commercial sales-Southeast, overseeing the growth and expansion of the telco's presence in cloud, UC and industry-specific communication and data offerings.
Prior to joining Frontier, Labrador held positions with Windstream, EarthLink Business and ZeroChaos.
Read more about his plans at Frontier in this Q&A.
Frontier Communications appointed Roy Labrador, a telecommunications executive with more than 25 years of experience in small, medium and enterprise sales, to national vice president of its channel partners program. He most recently was Frontier’s vice president of commercial sales-Southeast, overseeing the growth and expansion of the telco's presence in cloud, UC and industry-specific communication and data offerings.
Prior to joining Frontier, Labrador held positions with Windstream, EarthLink Business and ZeroChaos.
Read more about his plans at Frontier in this Q&A.
TBI
TBI made a trio of new hires in February.
Boe Mellor (left), a 17-year agent channel manager at Windstream, is the master agent's new director of sales, tasked with growing and supporting the company's sales team in the East. Ashley Klein (right), is TBI's newest channel manager for the Midwestern states of Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky. She, too, is a Windstream alum. And Van Wender (center), is TBI's newest channel manager in the Southeast. He most recently worked for GTT.
Learn more about this trio.
TBI made a trio of new hires in February.
Boe Mellor (left), a 17-year agent channel manager at Windstream, is the master agent's new director of sales, tasked with growing and supporting the company's sales team in the East. Ashley Klein (right), is TBI's newest channel manager for the Midwestern states of Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky. She, too, is a Windstream alum. And Van Wender (center), is TBI's newest channel manager in the Southeast. He most recently worked for GTT.
Learn more about this trio.
AireSpring's Shane Speakman and Grace Chu
Shane Speakman (right) is the newest member of the executive team at AireSpring, nabbing the role of VP of channel strategy, a newly created position. In this job, he takes on broad responsibility for the channel sales process, technology, analytics, administration and reporting. He most recently was national director of business development at Zayo.
Shane Speakman (right) is the newest member of the executive team at AireSpring, nabbing the role of VP of channel strategy, a newly created position. In this job, he takes on broad responsibility for the channel sales process, technology, analytics, administration and reporting. He most recently was national director of business development at Zayo.
Read more about Speakman here.
Also at AireSpring, Grace Chu has joined the customer operations team in the new position of UCaaS design manager. This position supports the on-boarding and implementation of programs for new UCaaS customers. Chu started her career in telecom at Pacific Bell in the late 1990s.
Rackspace's Jolynn Antonacci and Judy Vansell
Rackspace appointed Jolynn Antonacci (right) as senior partner marketing manger and Judy Vansell (left) as director of channel operations.
Antonacci's experience includes being a senior manager of channel marketing and events at EarthLink. She played a role in establishing EarthLink’s national master agent program. Vansell most recently directed North American channel programs for Dell EMC and worked for Dell in the channel and sales since 2004. She helped organize the integrated partner program that the combined company launched in 2017.
Learn more about Rackspace's growth.
Rackspace appointed Jolynn Antonacci (right) as senior partner marketing manger and Judy Vansell (left) as director of channel operations.
Antonacci's experience includes being a senior manager of channel marketing and events at EarthLink. She played a role in establishing EarthLink’s national master agent program. Vansell most recently directed North American channel programs for Dell EMC and worked for Dell in the channel and sales since 2004. She helped organize the integrated partner program that the combined company launched in 2017.
Learn more about Rackspace's growth.
HPE's Antonio Neri
Meg Whitman officially stepped aside from her role as chief executive of HPE on Feb. 1, opening the door for Antonio Neri.
Whitman announced in November that she was stepping down. At the time, Neri was president of HPE, a job he held for nine months. His first job at HP was as an EMEA customer service engineer in 1995.
Learn more about Neri here.
Meg Whitman officially stepped aside from her role as chief executive of HPE on Feb. 1, opening the door for Antonio Neri.
Whitman announced in November that she was stepping down. At the time, Neri was president of HPE, a job he held for nine months. His first job at HP was as an EMEA customer service engineer in 1995.
Learn more about Neri here.
Innovative Business Solutions' Shane Fugazy
Shane Fugazy has joined Innovative Business Solutions as the vice president of sales and strategic partnerships. He has a decade of experience in cable, which is the master agent's specialty.
Innovative says Fugazy's background with the Comcast Business indirect channel program "makes him uniquely qualified in business development and growth."
In his new role, he will be responsible for managing Innovative's partner managers, agent and partner relations, and business development.
Shane Fugazy has joined Innovative Business Solutions as the vice president of sales and strategic partnerships. He has a decade of experience in cable, which is the master agent's specialty.
Innovative says Fugazy's background with the Comcast Business indirect channel program "makes him uniquely qualified in business development and growth."
In his new role, he will be responsible for managing Innovative's partner managers, agent and partner relations, and business development.
Commvault's Andy Vandeveld
Commvault, the data-management provider, tapped Andy Vandeveld as its new VP, worldwide alliances. He's being asked to strengthen existing alliances and build new ones with cloud and enterprise technology companies.
Vandeveld's last job was VP of global strategic alliances at Veeam Software. There he led a team that established partnerships with Cisco, NetApp, HPE, Microsoft and others.
Commvault, the data-management provider, tapped Andy Vandeveld as its new VP, worldwide alliances. He's being asked to strengthen existing alliances and build new ones with cloud and enterprise technology companies.
Vandeveld's last job was VP of global strategic alliances at Veeam Software. There he led a team that established partnerships with Cisco, NetApp, HPE, Microsoft and others.
Talari's George Just
A vet of the company since 2014, George Just landed the channel-chief gig at Talari Networks, the software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) provider.
The Silicon Valley vendor committed to a 100-percent partner-driven approach last year but took another serious step by naming Just as vice president of worldwide channel sales. He had been serving as vice president of sales for the company.
A vet of the company since 2014, George Just landed the channel-chief gig at Talari Networks, the software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) provider.
The Silicon Valley vendor committed to a 100-percent partner-driven approach last year but took another serious step by naming Just as vice president of worldwide channel sales. He had been serving as vice president of sales for the company.
Green Cloud's Keith Coker
Green Cloud Technologies got a new CEO. The channel-only cloud-services company promoted Keith Coker to the top of the food chain.
Coker is one of Green Cloud's founders, helping it grow from a startup in 2011 into a large, independent infrastructure-as-a-service provider. His previous role was chief operating officer.
Green Cloud Technologies got a new CEO. The channel-only cloud-services company promoted Keith Coker to the top of the food chain.
Coker is one of Green Cloud's founders, helping it grow from a startup in 2011 into a large, independent infrastructure-as-a-service provider. His previous role was chief operating officer.
Vology's Jay Grubbs
Vology, the managed IT services provider, appointed Jay Grubbs, who has more than 25 years of sales and marketing experience, as vice president of sales. He is tasked with growing revenue by transforming and overseeing the company‘s services sales organization. He will report to David Wirta, chief revenue officer.
He comes to Vology after nearly five years as vice president of sales at Tracker, a San Francisco-based solution provider for I-9, E-Verify and immigration compliance.
Vology, the managed IT services provider, appointed Jay Grubbs, who has more than 25 years of sales and marketing experience, as vice president of sales. He is tasked with growing revenue by transforming and overseeing the company‘s services sales organization. He will report to David Wirta, chief revenue officer.
He comes to Vology after nearly five years as vice president of sales at Tracker, a San Francisco-based solution provider for I-9, E-Verify and immigration compliance.
BitTitan's Pam Cory
BitTitan named Pam Cory, formerly with Dell EMC, as vice president of marketing. She is in charge of leading all product, brand and channel marketing, as well as driving strategy around demand generation, business development, and media relations for the company's IT services automation platform, MSPComplete, and cloud-migration offering, MigrationWiz.
As head of marketing in Dell EMC‘s emerging technologies division, Cory executed strategy and market plans around customer retention, with a focus on big data, Internet of Things (IoT) and analytics.
Read more about Cory and BitTitan.
BitTitan named Pam Cory, formerly with Dell EMC, as vice president of marketing. She is in charge of leading all product, brand and channel marketing, as well as driving strategy around demand generation, business development, and media relations for the company's IT services automation platform, MSPComplete, and cloud-migration offering, MigrationWiz.
As head of marketing in Dell EMC‘s emerging technologies division, Cory executed strategy and market plans around customer retention, with a focus on big data, Internet of Things (IoT) and analytics.
Read more about Cory and BitTitan.
eSentire's Kerry Bailey
eSentire‘s new CEO plans to increase the percentage of his company’s sales that go through the channel.
The managed detection and response (MDR) provider named Kerry Bailey (pictured), previously with HP, as CEO. J. Paul Haynes, its former CEO, will assume the role of president and COO, and remain responsible for operations and the technical direction of the company.
With more than 28 years of executive experience in IT services, Bailey served as HP’s senior vice president and general manager of cloud, and channel chief, where he led the growth of private, public and hybrid clouds, and the worldwide indirect channel, respectively.
eSentire‘s new CEO plans to increase the percentage of his company’s sales that go through the channel.
The managed detection and response (MDR) provider named Kerry Bailey (pictured), previously with HP, as CEO. J. Paul Haynes, its former CEO, will assume the role of president and COO, and remain responsible for operations and the technical direction of the company.
With more than 28 years of executive experience in IT services, Bailey served as HP’s senior vice president and general manager of cloud, and channel chief, where he led the growth of private, public and hybrid clouds, and the worldwide indirect channel, respectively.
ADRF's Dennis Burns
Dennis Burns is ADRF's new manager of business development in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. He joins the in-building wireless connectivity provider from Cobham Wireless.
Burns has more than 25 years of experience developing direct and indirect business strategies in the wireless industry, with specific expertise in public-safety communications equipment.
Dennis Burns is ADRF's new manager of business development in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. He joins the in-building wireless connectivity provider from Cobham Wireless.
Burns has more than 25 years of experience developing direct and indirect business strategies in the wireless industry, with specific expertise in public-safety communications equipment.
SageNet's Thomas Watson
SageNet, the national managed services and cybersecurity provider, named Thomas Watson its new chief information officer. He brings more than 30 years of IT industry experience to the job. He is responsible for leading the company’s efforts to deliver technology that meets its customers’ needs.
SageNet, the national managed services and cybersecurity provider, named Thomas Watson its new chief information officer. He brings more than 30 years of IT industry experience to the job. He is responsible for leading the company’s efforts to deliver technology that meets its customers’ needs.
