SANTA CLARA, Calif., February 25, 2016 – Silver Peak, the leader in building broadband and hybrid Wide Area Networks (WANs), today announced that CRN®, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Bob Bruce, senior vice president of Worldwide Channel Sales, and Derek Dal Ponte, director, Channel Marketing, to its prestigious list of 2016 Channel Chiefs. The executives on this annual list represent top leaders in the IT channel who excel at driving growth and revenue in their organizations through channel partners.
Channel Chief honorees are selected by CRN’s editorial staff on the basis of their professional achievements, standing in the industry, dedication to the channel partner community and strategies for driving future growth and innovation. Each of the 2016 Channel Chiefs has demonstrated loyalty and ongoing support for the IT channel by consistently promoting, defending and executing outstanding channel partner programs.
With more than 30 years in the channel, Bob Bruce is a stronghold in the technology channel market. Through his vast understanding of the partner-vendor relationship and proven success of building global channel programs, Bob has maintained his Channel Chief position with a variety of networking companies over the years, including Aruba Networks, where he was recognized for expanding the company’s channel strategy with new distribution and business growth programs.
Derek Dal Ponte is a Silicon Valley marketing veteran, with more than 20 years of experience designing, developing, and managing global channels. He is driven by a passion for partnering and often serves as the voice of the channel. He has earned a reputation as an innovative marketing professional, fire-jumper, and all around problem solver that has helped multiple companies such as Silver Peak, NetApp and Adaptec ascend to hero status in their markets.
"We are honored to present the 2016 lineup of CRN Channel Chiefs, comprised of outstanding executives who move our entire industry forward by cultivating exemplary partner programs and executing cutting-edge business strategy,” said Robert Faletra, CEO, The Channel Company. “They represent an extraordinary group of individuals who lead by example and serve as both invaluable advocates and innovators of the IT channel. We applaud their incredible strides and look forward to following their accomplishments in the coming year.”
“Having two of our key channel executives receiving the prestigious CRN Channel Chief Award is an honor and testament to the amazing reputation and results Silver Peak’s Partner Program is generating,” said John Vincenzo, chief marketing officer, Silver Peak. “The sheer volume of partner interest we are receiving around our Unity EdgeConnect solution talks directly to the opportunity SD-WAN presents Silver Peak and our partners. With multiple award-winning channel executives driving our success, no SD-WAN company is better positioned to help partners achieve success.”
The 2016 CRN Channel Chiefs list is featured in the February 2016 issue of CRN and online at www.crn.com/channelchiefs.
About Silver Peak
Silver Peak is the leader in building broadband and hybrid WANs. Silver Peak enables enterprises and service providers to flexibly and securely connects users to applications via the highest performing, most cost-effective WAN connectivity available. With Silver Peak’s solutions, customers can augment or replace MPLS networks with secure broadband connectivity, leveraging existing WAN investments while dramatically reducing ever-increasing WAN costs and complexity. Customers benefit from unprecedented levels of visibility, control and security over all traffic traversing the WAN, while improving application and network performance. With Silver Peak, sites can be rapidly and non-disruptively expanded, moved or changed as business demands evolve. Learn more at www.silver-peak.com.