**Editor’s Note: Click here to see which channel people were on the move in January.**

Talari Networks, the software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) provider, has appointed a channel chief.

The Silicon Valley vendor committed to a 100-percent partner-driven approach last year but took another serious step by naming George Just as vice president of worldwide channel sales. Just had been serving as vice president of sales for the company.

The job change comes as Talari reports 86 percent year-over-year growth for its fourth-quarter sales.

Talari’s George Just

“I’m thrilled to expand my roll with Talari, a market leader with nearly 100 percent existing business renewals and nearly 90 percent new business growth,” Just said. “Talari’s strong channel partnerships, and the accelerating rate that VARs and SIs are offering SD-WAN services, truly makes this an exciting time for Talari.”

Just has worked for Talari since 2014. He initially served as a regional sales manager for the company, which was founded in 2006. Talari says Just has more than 30 years of experience in the networking industry. Two notable previous employers were Xylan and Alcatel. He directed North American channel sales for Alcatel, which acquired Xylan in 1999. He took the helm of Talari’s sales in 2016, and played a key role in recruiting and training new distribution partners. The company credits him for the signings of Avant Communications and Tech Data.

Talari’s Patrick Sweeney

“George pioneered Talari’s channel strategy,” Talari CEO Patrick Sweeney said. “We are pleased to recognize George’s expertise and commitment by naming him the global Talari channel chief; Talari is 100 percent committed to his expanding vision of working even more closely with MSP and systems-integration channel partners to increase their business opportunities and sales pipelines, especially with real-time apps like VoIP.”

Sweeney joined Talari in November with the goal of making the company 100-percent channel-focused. He told Channel Partners in a Q&A that one of his objectives is to pivot the sales team to a partner-oriented mindset.

Talari labels itself as a “carrier-agnostic,” failsafe SD-WAN provider. The company recently released a new branch appliance to help companies with SD-WAN deployments.