Samsung Taps Gilroy, Ex-SAP Channel Boss, to Head B2B Push

IT manufacturer Samsung, looking to ramp up vertical market business-to-business sales, has hired ex-SAP (SAP) channel veteran Kevin Gilroy to spearhead the effort, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Gilroy, who commanded SAP’s channel business worldwide and also headed its global small and midmarket segment, exited the enterprise software giant a month ago with word that he intended to pursue other opportunities.

Samsung, which has yet to confirm Gilroy’s appointment, reportedly will look to Gilroy as a difference maker in its drive to triple its B2B sales to 40 percent of its $250 billion global revenue. Gilroy reportedly will answer to Gregory Lee, Samsung Electronics North America President and chief executive.

Samsung’s B2B strategy is said to revolve around packaging its enterprise-centric products, such as vertical market software, large format displays, printers, tablets, smartphones and notebooks in a compelling way to reward channel partners for delivering the vendor’s full complement of solutions to business customers.

In Gilroy, Samsung gets a longtime channel veteran, whose background in addition to SAP includes a 25-year tenure at Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) where he held a number of channel executive positions.

Last December, in an interview with The VAR Guy, Gilroy said his career thinking was strongly influenced by his first boss at HP. Here’s what he said:

“My first professional job was at HP as a financial analyst, and I had one of the best bosses in my career. She taught me how to challenge myself, how to be self-aware and how to understand where my strengths lie while also acknowledging where I could grow. I also learned that choosing the right team is important to complement one’s strengths as well as augment one’s weaknesses. She and I still keep in touch to this day.”

And, in an earlier interview, he said the best way to help SAP’s channel partners land SMB sales was to simplify everything…Ease of procurement, ease of consumption, ease of deployment, a delightful experience—not a grinding experience.”

Gilroy could be just the tonic Samsung needs for its B2B initiative.