EMC, Cisco Vet Named SoftIron Channel Chief

SoftIron, the data center appliances provider, has appointed channel vet Phil Crocker, previously with EMC, F5 Networks and Cisco, as channel chief.

As vice president of business development and channel, Crocker will lead the company’s growing business development team. He’ll also build out its channel partner program with a focus on HyperDrive, an open source-based, software-defined storage solution.

SoftIron’s Phil Crocker

“SoftIron is changing the data storage paradigm, having reinvented the way data center appliances are engineered and manufactured from the source code on up,” he said. “As a challenger in the data center appliances industry, SoftIron places high value on being strategic. We’re playing the long game and are laser-focused on extracting the most value out of every decision we make.”

SoftIron ‘Critical Link’ for Partners

Crocker said partners will come to understand the full spectrum of what SoftIron is bringing to them and their customers. They’ll see SoftIron as a “critical link” in their go-to-market offering.

“This is one ride they’re not going to want to miss out on,” he said.

Crocker joins SoftIron from Panasas. As senior director of channel and business development, he developed and executed the Panasas Accelerate partner program.

Before Panasas, Crocker spent eight years with EMC/Isilon. He co-founded Isilon’s EMEA entity and drove early European channel revenues. He then led the development and post-acquisition transition of the company’s channel program.

Furthermore, he previously held director roles with MapR, F5, Cisco, Level 3 Communications and Intel.

“We’re reaching an inflection point as an industry, as organizations consider how they scale their data center operations,” said Phil Straw, SoftIron‘s CEO. “And SoftIron is delivering innovative solutions that put them in the driver’s seat. The addition of Phil Crocker, a proven leader who has built tremendously successful partner programs, is a real boon for SoftIron. We’re reinventing what is possible – not only in performance for data center appliances – but also in the approach of operationalizing open-source solutions that empower our customers.”