7 People of the Week at Microsoft, KnowBe4, Avaya

A channel marketing veteran is returning to Nextiva after two-and-a-half years elsewhere. MeiLee Langley announced on July 10 that she was rejoining the unified customer experience management platform to help revamp its marketing efforts.

One of her big plans includes the launch of a demand-generation agency that will provide channel partners new high-end demand generation services.

"Partners can take advantage of these to drive growth. That's everything from integrated campaigns to SEO to paid search, event management, content creation, etc.," Langley told Channel Futures. "I want this to be about the value the partner brings to the table, and the goal of doing so in an agency format is to make marketing manageable for the channel so they can pick the services they want and have a field marketing manager help them with things like measurement and optimization."

You can read Langley's interview with Channel Futures.

Microsoft cloud partners should expect to receive new incentives as it attempts to compete with Google Cloud's and Amazon Web Services' market share.

“By involving our partners in our go-to-market strategy from the beginning of the fiscal year, we can create synergy and drive collective success,” Nicole Dezen, chief partner officer and corporate vice president of global partner solutions at Microsoft, wrote in a blog. The new program kicked off on July 10.

These incentives include new bonuses around Copilot, security, 365 and Azure. The company is also trying to do more to serve smaller partners.

Learn more about Microsoft's incentive program.

Palo Alto Networks, Cato Networks and Netskope were identified as leaders in Gartner's "Magic Quadrant" for SASE products. This quadrant contains those that Gartner deems best in the market.

For example, Netskope has a robust geographic strategy compared to other vendors and "features breadth and depth" for networking and security.

"Netskope was built on the idea that a converged approach to security and networking is necessary to address rapid shifts in how teams work, where data resides, and how businesses keep technology secure and optimized," said Sanjay Beri, Netskope’s CEO and co-founder. "Today, Netskope delivers a complete range of SASE capabilities tailored for various customer sizes and technology environments, ranging from midmarket businesses to large enterprises requiring the advanced SASE capabilities other single-vendor SASE vendors simply can't provide."

Read about Gartner's Magic Quadrant and its implications for others in the SASE market.

Yet another VMware leader has left Broadcom after the latter bought the former in a controversial deal. Roger Egan announced on July 12 that he was leaving his role as senior vice president of worldwide sales for Tanzu, Broadcom/VMware's cloud-native application platform. Egan has been with the company since 2020 but left to join data security provider OneTrust as its chief revenue officer.

“I’m committed to helping OneTrust build on its momentum and allocate resources against its greatest potential,” Egan said. “The company has a unique culture and purpose and tremendous potential. I look forward to putting my background and skills to work to help achieve greater results.”

Read more about Egan and what his departure means for Broadcom/VMware.

A recently disclosed data breach is believed to have impacted the vast majority of AT&T's customer base. The telecom provider disclosed the breach on July 12 and said that it was working with law enforcement to arrest the malicious hackers behind it. At least one person had been apprehended so far.

The fact that a company as large as AT&T failed to detect such a massive breach is "deeply concerning," according to one security advocate.

"The inclusion of cell site identification numbers in the stolen data is particularly alarming as it could potentially allow for the triangulation of users' locations,” KnowBe4's Javvad Malik said. “This adds a physical dimension to the already extensive privacy violation, and could expose individuals to highly targeted and convincing social engineering attacks, not to mention compromising the physical security of individuals, such as those trying to escape abusive relationships. The stolen metadata, while perhaps not immediately recognized as sensitive, can paint a detailed picture of an individual's daily life, habits and associations, making it a valuable asset for those with malicious intent."

Learn about AT&T's data breach and its potential impacts on your company.

Optiv has brought on a new executive to oversee its channel program. Scott Goree, who comes over from Skyhigh Security, joined the company on July 15 as its new senior VP of partners, alliances and ecosystems.

“I am incredibly excited and honored to share the news of my new role at Optiv as senior vice president of partners, alliances and ecosystems,” Goree said. “My journey thus far has prepared me well for this opportunity with one of the leading names in cybersecurity partnerships. I look forward to collaborating with top vendors in the industry, safeguarding the interests of more than 6,000 clients in this vital space.”

Learn more about Goree and the role he is stepping into.

Recently hired Avaya CEO Patrick Dennis will take over the company from his predecessor and attempt to adopt practices that will continue to help it recover from its 2023 bankruptcy. Part of that strategy includes Avaya attempting to woo over new customers and to migrate its current base over to the cloud.

"The strategy that [former CEO Alan Masarek] set out, which included innovation without disruption, is the same strategy to solve that problem now. It is the same premise: The largest companies in the world want access to innovation and new technology with some access to thoughtful artificial intelligence (AI) and digital capabilities," Dennis said. "At the same time, none of those businesses will go to their CIO and say, "Let's rip it all out and redo it."

Read Channel Futures' interview with Dennis.

Recently hired Avaya CEO Patrick Dennis will take over the company from his predecessor and attempt to adopt practices that will continue to help it recover from its 2023 bankruptcy. Part of that strategy includes Avaya attempting to woo over new customers and to migrate its current base over to the cloud.

"The strategy that [former CEO Alan Masarek] set out, which included innovation without disruption, is the same strategy to solve that problem now. It is the same premise: The largest companies in the world want access to innovation and new technology with some access to thoughtful artificial intelligence (AI) and digital capabilities," Dennis said. "At the same time, none of those businesses will go to their CIO and say, "Let's rip it all out and redo it."

Read Channel Futures' interview with Dennis.