Juniper Appoints New U.S. Channel Chief

Juniper Networks‘ 2014 Global Partner Conference begins tomorrow, and the company will be going into the conference with a new Americas channel chief. It slipped out last week that Jonathan Belcher, the company’s vice president of Partner Sales for Asia-Pacific, has shifted his focus to the Americas and taken on the channel chief role.

The networking vendor has been without an Americas channel chief since November when Chris Jones, who was vice president of Channel Sales for the Americas, left the company after only five months in the role. Jones replaced Frank Vitagliano last April. Vitagliano left Juniper to head to Dell, while Jones pursued a new opportunity at Avaya.

There is no official word from Juniper yet as to what Belcher’s new title will be. Don’t be surprised to hear the official announcement regarding Belcher’s appointment as Juniper’s Global Partner Conference kicks off.

Juniper has faced a fair amount of senior executive upheaval lately. Juniper CEO Kevin Johnson announced his retirement in July, noting to shareholders and media that he would stay on until a suitable replacement could be found. Shaygan Kheradpir took the reins as of January 1, so he isn’t quite two weeks into his new role.

Then in early October, Juniper found itself facing the prospect of replacing Worldwide Channel Chief Emilio Umeoka, who announced he was leaving the company. Umeoka has led Juniper’s channel strategy and sales team since December 2010. The senior vice president of Worldwide Partners and Alliances is still finishing out his term at Juniper, and the names of the executives who will fill his shoes include David Helfer, vice president of Worldwide Channels and Commercial, and Doug Erickson, vice president of Worldwide Partner Programs and Development. It’s likely we’ll hear from both Helfer and Erickson at the Juniper partner conference.

Some stability within the company’s channel roles and top leadership could help prepare Juniper and its VARs for the next wave of networking solutions and services. The company posted strong profits in both Q2 and Q3, but it’s not without its troubles. During its third-quarter earnings report, the company announced it would be undergoing a 3 percent workforce reduction, laying off about 280 employees.