Former VMware Channel Exec to Head Check Point’s Americas Sales

A former high-ranking VMware channel executive has joined Check Point Software Technologies has head of sales in the Americas.

Geoff Waters will lead the company’s overall field sales in North America and Latin America. Reporting to Dan Yerushalmi, Check Point’s chief customer officer, Waters will lead the company’s 750 employees in the region.

Check Point’s Geoff Waters

The former VMware channel exec brings more than 20 years of sales management experience in IT, cloud and channel. Prior to Check Point, he was VMware‘s senior vice president of worldwide cloud sales. Before that, he was vice president of global cloud service provider channel. He was with VMware for nearly 10 years.

Furthermore, the former VMware channel exec held key global sales channel positions at Intel.

“I am confident that Geoff ́s experience and leadership skills will be instrumental to our success in the Americas,” Yerushalmi said.

In addition, Check Point has appointed people to key positions in its channel organization in the Americas:

• Nisha Holt is head of Americas channel sales.
• Erick Foy, previously with iboss, is the company’s new head of North America distribution sales.
• Coletta Vigh, previously with Pulse Secure, will lead Check Point’s worldwide channel strategy and growth initiatives.

In a Q&A with Channel Futures, Waters talks about his plans with Check Point.

Channel Futures: Why did you want to take this role with Check Point?

Geoff Waters: It is simple. Security is top of mind for all CIOs that I speak to and it will continue to be front and center in every decision they make. Check Point has been the leader in cybersecurity for 28 years, and has the industry’s leading network, cloud and user access security, delivering uncompromised security and threat prevention across enterprise environments. I’m excited about the new focus around Check Point Harmony, for remote users; Check Point CloudGuard, to automatically secure clouds; and Check Point Quantum, to protect network perimeters and data centers. I am looking forward to the opportunity to lead the Americas field sales organization.

CF: What’s your take on Check Point’s channel strategy and partner program? Any changes needed?

GW: I have over 20 years’ experience working with various channel partners. So I am excited to engage, listen and better understand what they think of our channel strategy and programs. Profitability, consistency and simplicity are pillars to a successful channel program. I know our global channel leader, Frank Rauch, is one of the most experienced and partner-focused executives in the IT industry. I am looking forward to collaborating with him and our newly appointed Americas leaders … to extend Check Point’s channel presence.

CF: How will your previous experience come into play in this new role?

GW: I have background in innovating and scaling out commercial consumption models, building cloud partnerships, and building world-class sales organizations. In partnership with our channel, our Check Point team will always prioritize driving successful business outcomes for customers.

CF: What’s at the top of your to-do list?

GW: We have an amazingly strong customer install base and partner ecosystem in the Americas. Our cybersecurity portfolio is industry-leading as it protects over 100,000 organizations of all sizes. At the top of my to-do list, I plan on meeting with customers, partners and our field teams to listen to their feedback, input, and address questions. We need to ensure our strategy is well understood and drives the adoption of our fully integrated portfolio within the current install base and partner ecosystem. Concurrently, we will work with partners to drive net-new customer engagements. Ensuring our sales teams are focused, enabled, motivated and customer-obsessed will be top of mind.