Nutanix Hires Juniper Networks Vet as New Channel VP

Hyperconverged infrastructure vendor Nutanix has hired a former Juniper Networks channel executive to lead its Americas channel program.

Nutanix’s Christian Goffi

Christian Goffi takes over as the company’s vice president of Americas channel sales. He takes over for Christian Alvarez, who was promoted in May to senior vice president of worldwide channels at Nutanix.

Interestingly, Alvarez joined Nutanix last September, also from Juniper Networks.

Goffi brings more than 25 years of IT sales and channel experience to his new post at Nutanix. At Juniper he headed channel and distribution sales, with responsibility for more than 5,000 reseller and distributor partners. He previously worked for Cyan as managing director of channel and business development, for Avaya and for Nortel Networks.

In his new role, Goffi will focus on partner strategy and go-to-market programs for the hyperconverged infrastructure vendor. Nutanix’s partners include value-added resellers, distributors, system integrators and OEM partners.

Team Building to Support Market

Goffi told Channel Futures he plans to bring his strength as a team builder to his new role. “I take a lot of pride in building high performing teams to support our market in the best way possible,” he said. “I look forward to implementing this approach at Nutanix.”

Nutanix already has a strong team setting and he said he’s looking forward to building upon existing momentum. “I do think that there are immediate opportunities to go back to the basics. Partnering simplicity and sales alignment are top of mind for me right now.”

His work at Juniper well-prepared him for his new role, he said. “Every step in your career prepares you for the next opportunity and Juniper was a great contributor in my career. The intimate partner relationships built over the past few years give me a great understanding of what our partners value. This will be key to making decisions that will benefit our partner community and lead to immediate growth and success.”

Goffi said the skills he has gained using analytics and business intelligence will also be valuable in his new job.

Channels Are Critical

“Channels to me are a critical component of a winning formula,” he said. “What we do as a company is brought to life by the channel. It is the channel that often turns our technology into something that solves a business problem for a customer. We simply cannot succeed without the channel.”

Throughout his career, channels have always been a key component, he said. “I learned to appreciate the role of the channel early and have been an advocate for it from day one. Over the past seven years, I have been directly involved in channel management.”

His first priority is being a facilitator between the Nutanix sales team and the channel sales representatives, he said. “This bridge is perhaps the most important characteristic of any successful partnership. One of my first steps will be to assess and benchmark where we stand as it relates to that bridge. We will also take steps to remove friction from our day to day engagements. This will ensure that we create conditions that are mutually beneficial to our channels and Nutanix to flourish.”

Goffi said during the interview process, he was deeply impressed by the company’s community involvement vision. “This resonated with me very close to heart,” he said. “I myself am deeply connected to the community as I lead a nonprofit organization in South Florida. Knowing how much Nutanix cares for and supports its employees was a big point of alignment for me.”

Christian Alvarez, who formerly held Goffi’s post, said Goffi was hired after an extensive search. Goffi is from Latin America and brings a wealth of knowledge of that market and partner landscape, said Alvarez. “We trust our best-in-class recruiting process and believe the best candidate was selected for the role.”