Lenovo, Trend Micro Name New Channel Chiefs

It’s been quite a busy week for channel chief moves. A reorganization at Cisco Systems, a new appointment at Trend Micro, and now a new North America Channel Chief at Lenovo. Here are the details, plus a broader look at how top positions seem

At Lenovo, Chris Frey has moved from “acting” channel chief to the official North America Channel Chief. He reports to Jay Parker, VP and GM of transactional business. Frey’s new position starts just as Lenovo introduces a new services push for channel partners.

According to Frey’s LinkedIn account, he has previously held large enterprise and regional sales positions at IBM and Lenovo. Frey’s work at IBM and Lenovo dates back to at least 2004. He replaces Stephen DiFranco, who left Lenovo earlier this year to become Hewlett-Packard’s channel chief.

Lenovo also announced:

Meanwhile At Trend Micro…

Also this week, Lenovo veteran Stephen Mungall joined Trend Micro as VP of U.S. channel sales. Mungall is responsible for “sustaining, advancing and executing the enterprise and the small business channel strategy for Trend Micro, including managing successful partnerships and achieving aggressive growth goals. In a prepared statement, Trend Micro said the company remains “100 percent channel committed.”

Trend Micro says Mungall has more than 20 years of experience leading channel and sales teams, most recently serving as VP of channel sales at Lenovo.

Trend Micro has been particularly active in the managed services market over the past few months, working more closely with key MSPs and VAR organizations like HTG Peer Groups. Also, Trend Micro team members like TJ Alldridge, marketing manager for SMB Products, have been busy explaining xSP pricing models for managed security services:

Trend Micro’s outreach to MSPs is expected to continue under new Channel Chief Mungall.

Cisco Systems and More

No doubt, channel chiefs and C-level executives seem to be on the move at a range of channel-centric companies. Cisco Global Channel Chief Keith Goodwin announced several executive shifts at the networking giant earlier today. And a week earlier, a range of CXO position moves occurred at additional high-tech companies.

The bottom line: Although Main Street USA remains concerned about the economy, the high-tech sector seems to be loosening up again, filling vacant channel chief spots and/or recruiting new channel talent along the way.

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