May’s Channel People on the Move

It was another crazy month of people on the move, including a major shake-up at CenturyLink.

But Blake Wetzel’s departure wasn’t the only personnel change of note. May’s moves featured a handful of new channel chiefs, regional channel managers, CTOs and president/CEOs. Some have a day-to-day impact on the channel, while others make decisions that affect partners more over the long haul.

People at Birch, PlanetOne, Evolve IP and Barracuda Networks are among those featured here. This list is by no means comprehensive, but it gives you a nice sampling of the new hires and promotions in May. You’re sure to see people you know.

Missed last month’s “people” gallery? Click here to see who was on the move in April.

Follow senior online managing editor Craig Galbraith on Twitter.

Channel People on the Move: CenturyLink’s Corbin and Rackspace’s Wetzel

CenturyLink hired Westcon Group channel leader Bill Corbin (left) as its new senior vice president of strategic partnerships and channel operations. In this newly created role, Corbin assumes responsibility for all business channel alliances, including establishing, maintaining and enhancing CenturyLink’s relationships with SIs, distributors, VARs and ISVs. Many of these responsibilities previously were handled by other internal organizations.

The news came around the same time that CenturyLink channel chief Blake Wetzel (right) announced his resignation, leaving the telco giant to take the channel reins at Rackspace.

Click here to read more about Corbin’s new position; keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming Channel Partners interview with Wetzel.

Channel People on the Move: Nitel’s Michael Masini

Michael Masini is Nitel’s new director of channel sales.

Nitel hired the 25-year telecom veteran as part of its plan to double the size of its channel team in the next six months. Masini most recently was vice president of the channel at Impact Telecom (through its merger with TNCI). He also has held executive and management positions at Clarus Communications, Cbeyond, PAETEC/Windstream and Broadwing/Level 3.

Read more about what Masini will be doing for Nitel.

Channel People on the Move: PlanetOne’s Bern Richardson and Jim MacWilliam

Master agency PlanetOne Communications hired of Bernadette “Bern” Richardson as vice president of marketing.

Richardson is tasked with spearheading the firm’s internal and external marketing, which includes managing its creative agency, public relations firm and social media team. She has more than 25 years of experience in business management, including 10 years within the telecommunications industry as an entrepreneur.

Also new to PlanetOne is Jim MacWilliam. He’s the company’s new Cloud Practive Manager. This Millennial is “on a mission to empower channel partners with the business resources and technical expertise to support a ‘cloud-first’ mentality.” He has experience at FusionStorm and Birch Communications.

Read more about Richardson here and MacWilliam here.

Channel People on the Move: IGEL Technology’s Jed Ayres

Jed Ayres takes over as president and CEO in North America for IGEL Technology on June 1.

Ayres most recently was senior vice president, Worldwide Marketing, at AppSense, before it was acquired by LanDesk in April. He is credited with the transformation of AppSense’s digital marketing, social media, public relations and analyst relations programs. Of note to partners, he also drove efforts to unify AppSense’s global channel program and increased the company’s investment in marketing programs for its top partners — resulting in a double-digit increase in sales.

IGEL develops workspace-management software.

Read more about Ayres’ new job here.

Channel People on the Move: Ecessa’s Eric Brooker

Eric Brooker brings almost 20 years of experience – including in channel management – to his new role of vice president, sales and marketing, at Ecessa Corp, the network technology provider.

Brooker most recently was director of sales at Involta, a provider of colocation and managed services. Partners might also recognize him from his previous jobs at West Corp., Brookline Networks and Masergy.

This is where to get the full story on Brooker.

Channel People on the Move: iSheriff’s Carrie Roberts

There’s a new “iSheriff” in town.

The company formally announced Carrie Roberts as its new vice president of global sales. She has been working at the security provider since February.

Roberts says she will work to increase the company’s customer base and help partners make more money. iSheriff’s strategy to bring about those changes includes lead-generation programs, and sales and technical training.

Click here to learn more about Roberts.

Channel People on the Move: Evolve IP’s Bob Maute

Cloud services provider Evolve IP hired a unified communications veteran as one of its sales leaders.

Bob Maute is the company’s new vice president of sales for the eastern U.S. Maute has been in the position since April.

Maute has worked in various direct and indirect sales positions over the past 10 years at companies such as Covad Communications, West IP Communications and ShoreTel.

Read more about Maute here.

Channel People on the Move: Westcon-Comstor’s Ken Bast

Westcon-Comstor has a new executive vice president dedicated to global partner management.

It’s Ken Bast, who the tech distributor hired last year to lead Comstor’s relationship with Cisco, which he will now expand.

Bast’s team is tasked with developing, deepening and driving Westcon-Comstor’s global vendor and customer relationships. In his new role specifically, Bast is responsible for driving growth across the company’s security, collaboration, networking, data center and cloud services.

Get the full scoop on Bast.

Channel People on the Move: Barracuda’s Ezra Hookano and Hatem Naguib

Ezra Hookano (left) is back at Barracuda Networks after a six-year absence to become the company’s new channel chief.

As vice president of channels, Hookano is responsible for leading Barracuda’s global channel strategy. He previously was Barracuda’s vice president of sales, growing the company from inception to more than $100 million in revenue, before leaving in 2010.

Barracuda also appointed Hatem Naguib as senior vice president and general manager, security business. He previously was vice president of networking and security at VMware, where he was responsible for the product, technical marketing and business development teams of VMware NSX.

Click here to learn more about Barracuda’s new additions.

Channel People on the Move: Line Systems’ Bruce Wirt

Communications provider Line Systems named Bruce Wirt as its vice president of sales and marketing.

Wirt is charged with maintaining Line’s regional presence while expanding its national footprint. He aims to accomplish that with both an internal sales team and by “advancing channel opportunities.”

He most recently served as NetCarrier’s vice president of channel sales.

Read more about Wirt’s new job here.

Channel People on the Move: Netformx’s Pete Eggimann

Netformx, which provides sales-enablement platforms for solution providers, looked to storage giant EMC for its new vice president of Business Development and Alliances.

Pete Eggimann, who has been on the job at Netformx since February, is charged with managing and growing the Netformx Alliance Program.

Eggimann’s IT experience includes providing “technical leadership and evangelism” for content vendors, channel partners and end-user customers implementing high-end computing services in complex data-center environments. His most recent job was director of EMC’s VSPEX Ecosystem Program, where he was responsible for helping partners create high-margin solutions for converged and hyperconverged infrastructures.

Read more about Eggimann here.

Channel People on the Move: Final Code’s JK Tan and Frank Courtney-Jay

File security provider FinalCode announced the opening of a new regional headquarters in Singapore. With that come two new executives: Frank Courtney-Jay (right), Asia Pacific CEO; and JK Tan (left), regional sales director within the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region.

Courtney-Jay previously was sales manager, ECM, for IBM, where he delivered tech services to the financial industry. He also has held management positions at HPE and Ektron, a Web content management software provider.

Tan comes from Westcon, where he was a sales director.

You can learn more about these gents here.

Channel People on the Move: Birch’s Jim O’Brien

Birch Communications, the rapidly growing business communications provider, followed up its recent hiring of a CEO by announcing a new second in command.

Jim O’Brien, a 20-year veteran of executive roles in telecom, is Birch’s new chief operations officer and executive vice president. Partners likely will know him from his jobs at competitive carriers, including Deltacom – purchased by EarthLink in 2010 – and ICG Communications.

Click here to read more about O’Brien.

Channel People on the Move: Semafone’s Margie Frasier and C3’s Kelley Allen

Semafone announced the promotion of channel veteran Margie Frasier to the role of senior vice president, global partnerships and alliances.

Frasier brings to the position more than 20 years of channel sales and technology experience in the telecommunications industry. She will be responsible for managing strategic alliances and building new global partnerships.

Semafone provides secure payment software for contact centers.

Also in a new role is Kelley Allen, Cloud Computing Concepts‘ (C3) new chief technology officer. This is a promotion for Allen, who most recently was C3’s vice president of engineering.

Allen’s work history includes executive roles with several financial technology providers.

Click here to read more about Frasier and here for more on Allen.

May’s Channel People on the Move

Please click here for more Channel Partners galleries.