Hmmm. The VAR Guy senses something is up at Cisco Systems Inc. A trusted source says recently promoted Senior VP Chuck Robbins has traded in his Atlanta ZIP code for a residence much closer to Cisco's San Jose headquarters. But that's not all. It sounds like Cisco is making multiple key moves within its channel ranks. Here's the apparent scoop, from The VAR Guy. According to The VAR Guy's scorecard:

The VAR Guy

October 20, 2008

2 Min Read
Big, Quiet Channel Moves At Cisco Systems?

Cisco Systems’ Chuck Robbins: On the Move?Hmmm. The VAR Guy senses something is up at Cisco Systems Inc. A trusted source says recently promoted Senior VP Chuck Robbins has traded in his Atlanta ZIP code for a residence much closer to Cisco’s San Jose headquarters. But that’s not all. It sounds like Cisco is making multiple key moves within its channel ranks. Here’s the apparent scoop, from The VAR Guy.

According to The VAR Guy’s scorecard:

  • Robbins currently leads SMB sales for the US/Canada theater, but a move to corporate headquarters could mean bigger and broader things to come for this “fast rising star,” according to a long time source who couldn’t keep his mouth closed.

  • Couple this with the recent promotion of Edison Peres to SVP of Go-To-Market and “partners should be excited about the channel recognition within the executive ranks at Cisco,” crows The VAR Guy’s biased but upbeat source.

  • Former WebEx President Doug Dennerline, the channel chief of 3Com (remember them?) more than 10 years ago, is now tasked with turning WebEx into a channel centric organization. His new title: Senior VP and GM, Collaborative Software Group. The source, waxing poetic about Cisco, says WebEx currently is a “direct sales powerhouse.”

  • And former Cisco channel chief Paul Mountford is leading Cisco’s push in emerging markets.

Oh, and just for the record: Senior VP Keith Goodwin remains Cisco’s global channel chief.

Still, here’s something curious: The source didn’t mention Wendy Bahr, VP of Cisco’s US/Canada channels.

Hmmm. Perhaps The VAR Guy wasn’t paying close enough attention during the conversation. He had one eye on the San Diego Chargers and NFL Sunday football when the info above caught his other eye. And we all know how distracting fantasy football — and real football — can be.

Stay tuned for more info about Robbins and the rest of the Cisco Kids. There’s even talk of a channel meeting for media in Portugal in early November. Alas, The VAR Guy will be tied up at another event — but he hopes to have some trusted eyes and ears in the room during the Portugal meetings.

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