CV_Spring_2021

success models to the international level, with objec - tives by sector from now on.” Brecht Seurinck, the newly named EMEA vice presi- dent of channel sales was an inside hire for Riverbed. Seurinck most recently served as president of Riverbed’s NTT alliance group business. Based in Belgium, Seurinck has formerly held senior channel leadership positions in Ipanema Technologies and Vanco Belux. His top responsibilities will be driving partner engagement in relation to the company’s alliance partnership with Microsoft. And new Commvault EMEA channel vice president Jamie Farrelly said the enterprise data management vendor ’s upcoming partner program will grow partner profitability, adding the compa- ny’s channel leadership reshuffle is about “making the market sit up and take notice.” “Commvault’s program will focus on how we support the value of an MSP to a customer, rather than just rely on driving revenue,” Farrelly said. Also, FireEye recently named Luca Brandi as its EMEA channel director, and Avant promoted Rob Merhej to regional vice president EMEA. Small Transformations Accelerate In the meantime, the Cisco Small Business Partner summit from Riyadah, Saudi Arabia took place in early March to focus on the region’s growth prospects. Small businesses account for 44 percent of all IT spending and continue to outpace traditional enterprise growth. Summit attendees were provided insights into its small business-oriented Cisco Designed portfolio and learned about Cisco’s partner incentives and rewards to expand their own business offerings, while empowering small business customers in their efforts to leverage digital solutions. “The pandemic has intensified the digital divide that was already present in the small business market, and it is pushing companies to accelerate their digitization agendas,” said Hani Raad, general manager of small business at Cisco in the region. “Business owners are realizing that digitization is essen- tial, not only to ensure continuity today, but to secure future growth and resil- iency. With our growing portfolio of software and hardware solutions for small businesses, alongside tailored advisory, Cisco is playing a pivotal role in empowering the sector to thrive – at times of crisis and beyond.” Indicating strong progress and understanding of the importance of investing in technology, IDC’s META DX Survey notes that 60 percent of small and medium-sized businesses in the region have accelerated their digital transformation roadmaps by between one to two years. This acceleration has led to significant growth on digital and non-digital IT spending. While the Middle East and Africa have witnessed accelerated efforts to invest in digitization, small businesses remain at varying stages of maturity and digital readiness. Early adopters of technolo- gies such as digital network architecture, cloud solutions, AI and machine learning are better equipped to ensure continu- ity and to streamline operations, gain valuable insights and thrive. o Jamie Farrelly, the newly named VP, EMEA channels and alliances at Commvault 23 May 2021 | CHANNEL V ISION