Infinio Taps Former Dell, Microsoft Executive as Channel Chief

**Editor’s Note: Click here to see which channel people were on the move in February and March.**

Infinio, which sells storage-acceleration products for virtualized data centers, on Wednesday named industry veteran Bob Skelley as its new vice president of global channel.

Skelley, who most recently was Dell’s executive director of North American channel sales, will manage all channel and partner relationships for Infinio around the world. Before Dell, he was VP of channel strategy and operations for EqualLogic and Microsoft’s director of U.S. distribution and VAR channels.

“We’re looking to fundamentally shift both the economic and performance curves of data-center storage,” said Arun Agarwal, CEO and co-founder of Infinio. “It’s a huge undertaking but also an equally big opportunity, and channel partners have a critical role as trusted advisors of data-center administrators. Bob’s track record speaks for itself — he will make our early channel partners as successful as he did at Microsoft, EqualLogic and Dell.”

The company’s channel-focused strategy centers around Infinio Accelerator, which is designed to help businesses improve storage performance using a server-side, software-based approach to support growing virtualized enterprise applications and desktops. 

“Infinio is investing heavily in the channel and, by working with our partners, Infinio will greatly expand the reach of its innovative storage acceleration solutions,” said Skelley.

Infinio’s channel program features three tiers: Authorized, Premier and Elite. All feature discounts, deal registration, co-branded marketing materials, access to a partner portal, and sales and technical training. Authorized partners get a dedicated sales manager, joint marketing activities, release pre-briefings and rebates. Elite partners get all of that plus Infinio-generated leads, an executive sponsorship and invitations to special events.

The company also has a program for those who want to earn referral fees but prefer not to resell or distribute Infinio software.

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