Citrix’s New Channel Chief Details 3-Step Plan for Partners

Citrix would like to introduce its channel partners to Mike Fouts, the new channel chief for Citrix’s Americas Channel. On Citrix’s channel blog, Fouts has laid out his three-point plan for aligning Citrix’s channel priorities to new emerging virtualization opportunities. Here’s what you should know …

Mike Fouts has been with Citrix for more than 10 years, including once working for a Ctirix partner. As the new channel chief, Fouts will be steering Citrix’s go-to-market strategy for 2012, which he outlined in three steps:

1. Continue to equip partners – Fouts wants to give partners bigger and better tools and resources to ensure they can “sell more product and be more profitable.” Those new tools are coming for 2012 and are positioned to enable partners to attack budding virtualization opportunities as virtualization technology proliferates.
2. Facilitate collaboration between partners and the Ctirix sales organization – The eternal channel conflict is those direct sales teams that compete with channel partners. Fouts wants to ensure that happens at Citrix as little as possible, making sure Citrix’s own sales operation can refocus its priorities while simultaneously ensuring partners are always given the leads they need.
3. SMB-focused partner certification – Remember when Citrix scooped up Kaviza for its VDI-in-a-Box technology? Fouts said Citrix will continue to provide SMB-targeted products built around that technology, a win for both the channel and end users expanding their virtualization horizons. Citrix wants to “aggressively target” this space, especially by making it affordable.

Fouts plans to continue posting updates on the Ctirix blog, updating channel partners and the world about status of the Citrix channel. We’ll keep tabs on that as 2012 rolls on.