ChannelTrends: Internet Shutdowns, Juniper Gathers Industry Execs

Some prominent industry executives have jumped into new organizations and roles the past few weeks and, based on the vacancies created by these defections, additional switches could be on the way. This news is a great sign for solution providers, as several vendors looking to enhance their IT channel programs entice the skilled (and admired) leaders from competitors and other technology companies. With expanded roles and the ability to revamp partnership plans for their new employers, it will be interesting to see the resulting changes at these companies over the next few months.

 Juniper Scoops Up Cisco and Microsoft Channel Executives

Add long time Cisco executive Luanne Tierney to the asset column for Juniper Networks, as the network provider invests in its IT channel development efforts with the hiring of a respected industry executive. Though her role as vice president of Global Partner Marketing would seem to be a horizontal move, at Juniper she’ll have a significantly expanded role: developing an extensive partner program to expand the vendor’s channel network. Tierney was a respected force on Cisco’s channel community and had a hand in solution provider enablement programs such as Cisco Partner Velocity.

Juniper literally scoured the world looking for experienced channel executives, adding Emilio Umeoka as senior vice president, worldwide partners just a day after Tierney’s hiring announcement. The former president of Asia Pacific for Microsoft is responsible for the global channel strategy and partner initiatives. In the press release, John Morris, executive vice president of field operations, reported, "Under Umeoka's leadership, we plan to build on the success of our worldwide partner organization and ensure that best practices, programs and resources are shared throughout our global Juniper Partner community."  

With the extensive experience these two new hires possess, Juniper seems pretty intent on a global makeover of its channel program. Even with the dominance of Cisco in many network categories, there’s a tremendous market opportunity for partners of all the vendors, and recruitment efforts should heat up with talent infusions like these.  

Tablet Wars Heat Up

Motorola’s 2010 year-end results  announcement this week included a confirmation that its Xoom tablet will arrive in either February or March to compete in the segment with the iPad and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. The 3G Android 3.0 Honeycomb devices with 10.1-inch displays are expected to go head to head with both manufacturers offerings and provide yet another option for mobility-focused solution providers. With a host of tablets available now or soon to be introduced, options will continue to expand in 2011. From the ViewSonic ViewPad (Android OS) and the HP Slate 500 (Windows 7), to the iPad version 2.0 that’s expected to debut later this year, it should be interesting to see which become the operating systems and platforms of choice

Repercussions of Internet Shutdown in Egypt

First was China and its censorship of Google, and then came Iran restricting Internet traffic to keep protesters from organizing. Thursday Egypt followed suit with a complete shutdown of the Web  within its borders to counter unrest over the country’s political situation, restricting lines of communication to its approximately 80 million citizens and severely hampering its ability to conduct business worldwide. Is this a sign of things to come, and should the world community encourage the adoption of Internet access rules through the United Nations?   

With little access to the Web, “the Cloud” has vaporized (pun intended) in Egypt. Imagine how actions like this would affect MSPs or solution providers who deliver support and services to their clients. It’s a scary proposition and illustrates the investment we’ve put on the Web, from both a financial and security perspective. Hopefully things will settle down quickly in Egypt and its citizens will be back online soon.