Nitel has hired an executive vice president of sales and marketing to oversee its “channel-first” growth strategy.

Mark Dickey will also head up wholesale growth, account management and marketing. The Chicago-based telecom network services provider said that Dickey understands the mindset of entrepreneurs who want to grow quickly.

Nitel’s Mark Dickey

“As organizations continue to move their business to the cloud, they are looking for providers with a wide-breadth of solutions and a superior customer experience,” Nitel CEO Rick Stern said. “With Mark’s proven track record in telecom, cloud and IT, I am confident in his ability to lead organizations through their digital transformation.”

Jason Dishon, the company’s previous executive vice president of sales and marketing, also a former Windstream channel boss, left Nitel last December. He is leading a company in a different industry.

Dickey most recently worked as Oracle’s senior director of alliances and channel. He served in a similar role at Seagate Technology and worked in HP’s Industry Standard Server (ISS) division for the Americas. Other past employers include Brocade and AT&T.

“I look forward to growing our sales force, increasing channel support and expanding geographic coverage where our partners need it most,” Dickey said. “I am excited to collaborate with our valued partners and pave the way towards our mutual success.”

Nitel last year rolled out a new marketing initiative for select partners.