Cato Networks Taps Frank Rauch for Channel Lead: 'The Opportunity Is Ubiquitous'
Rauch, who recently left Check Point, offers access into the C-suites of some of the world's largest partners, distributors and vendors.
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Channel Futures: What made you want to join Cato?
Cato ’s Frank Rauch: When I was contacted by Cato, I just loved the messaging. I really did. It was basically all things that I have a lot of passion and energy for – whether it’s cloud, whether it’s security or whether it’s SD-WAN. Putting all three of those together seems really cool to me. Having gone through the VeloCloud acquisition at VMware and competing with Cisco with Viptela and having kind of touched Palo Alto and CloudGenix when I was over at Check Point, the gaps were obvious. That’s point No. 1
Point No. 2, which absolutely enamored me with Cato, was the quality of the management team. I had heard about [co-founder and CEO] Shlomo Kramer, but I had never really talked to him. Having the opportunity to talk to him two or three times during the process was fantastic. It was the same thing for [chief revenue officer] Alon Alter and everybody, including [vice president of sales for the Americas] Nick Fan. The line that was used whenever recruiting me was, ‘This is where the A players are the norm.’ And it really has proven true. It has proven true through that three-month process, and it has proven true through the last 48-72 hours.
CF: It’s intriguing to see you join a company that appeals to such a broad base of partner models, including resellers, MSPs and agents. In particular, I’m curious of your familiarity with the agent/advisor model and what you expect from working with that route to market.
FR: I had the opportunity to be on a lot of different advisory boards and make friends with a lot of people that have global responsibility. Some of them you know very well, like [AT&T’s] Chris Jones and [Comcast’s] Craig Schlagbaum. We had the opportunity to openly discuss routes to market. And once I better understood the master agent – or what are now called technology services distributors – I was really really interested. Once I understood the percentage of channel-led that was coming from the agents, I was even more interested. I had the opportunity when I was over at Check Point to be able to explore and kind of be able to talk to the big three, but also some of the ones that specialize more in security.
My intention is honestly to not disrupt anything. My intention is to be accretive in everything we do. To be able to create new business, not to displace anybody. I very much look forward to working with [the TSDs], and reaching out to the CEOs of the various TSDs this week to say, “Hey, we had a great conversation three weeks ago; that conversation has changed a little bit,” and to be able to develop those relationships and understand how they’re modeling their business.
Everything’s moving. Everything’s converging, whether it’s marketplaces, technology solutions brokerages, global systems integrators, or resell models that are establishing global footprints. It’s all coming together, and it’s really cool. I had described myself that I would never use the word “channel ecosystem” in my career. But I’m telling you, “ecosystem” is absolutely the right word for what’s happening now.
CF: You mentioned being accretive. Could talk about the existing relationships you bring into the Cato ecosystem, whether that with be resellers or system integrators?
FR: That’s certainly one thing I do bring to the table. I would kind of group it into different categories.
One would be the large partners. The Computacenters. Certainly in the Americas somebody like Presidio. Somebody like WWT. Like the agents don’t want to be called agents any more, the DMRs [direct market resellers] don’t want to be called DMRs any more. So let’s call them worldwide solution providers. CDW is a good example of someone establishing a worldwide footprint right now. [New York-based] Presidio acquiring [Dublin-based] Arkphire. [London-based] Computacenter going the other way, acquiring [Toronto-based] Pivot and some of the other organizations that exist in the Americas. It’s a great opportunity. And then the distributors have a worldwide presence as well.
One of the things is having a C-level relationship with may of the organizations that matter. I think that’s important because it’s tough for CAMs to be able to get to that level. Just simply because some of the partners have 3,000-4,000 sales reps. Many of them are over $10 billion in terms of their revenues, etc. So that access is really limited. I hope to be able to give Cato that type of access, not only with the resell partners, but to develop it with the agents, to be able to give it to them with the distributors, which I already have. And also maybe even some of the marketplaces that exist. I have very senior relationships with AWS, Azure, etc., and I look forward to exploring that.
CF: You had mentioned ecosystems. Where does Cato land in the ecosystem world, and what does embracing ecosystems mean for Cato?
FR: I think it’s a great question, and to be honest with you, I don’t totally know yet. But if you look at it, you have three models: the refer model, the resale model and the managed model. I think that’s part of the ecosystem. Where it extends beyond that could be into the CSPs, which are really interesting right now, whether it’s AWS, GCP or Azure. But it’s also so far beyond that. I’ve been working with ServiceNow, Splunk and other companies in different phases of my career. There are some really interesting opportunities there. Even somebody like Dell, somebody like Nutanix. They’re possibilities. It’s way too early to discuss them in detail.
Because I’ve gone from HPE, which plays directly into that field, to VMware, which was pretty agnostic across most of those alliances, to Check Point, which gave me a window into the security environment, the possibilities are endless. But it’s not just me. It’s going to be working with the executive team. It’s going to be working with the field teams. I think we have a really really bright future. One of the things I learned from Meg Whitman, whom I used to work for over at HPE, is that strategy is the art of deselection. Sometimes it’s not, “What are you going to do?” It’s “What are you not going to do?” and prioritizing.
CF: In terms of deselection, is there anything you’d want talk about in terms of Cato?
FR: (laughing) No, not at all.
CF: I’m interested in your perspectives on the telco world. Cato would not call itself a telco provider, but it has nevertheless become a bit of a telco killer. How do you see Cato positioning itself in reference to that market?
FR: The market is really dynamic. If you look at Telefonica, if you look at Orange, BT, AT&T, Verizon, etc., what are they? Are they telcos, service providers or integrators? I would probably say all three. Technology is always disruptive. I don’t think we’re competing against MPLS directly. I think we’re offering a different path to be able to get there. It would be foolish for us to not be able to leverage people that really understand the last mile and understand some of that business. Again, it’s too early for me to tell you exactly what that’s going to look like, but I can guarantee you that we will be having those discussions, not only at my level, but certainly at Shlomo’s, Alon’s and those people I’m working for. Maybe I’m naive – I don’t think I am – but I think it’s going to be more collaborative than competitive.
CF: Could you break down your responsibilities and position on the org chart?
FR: I’m going to be working very closely with the geo teams. Obviously, we have well-established geo teams in each of the three geos. I’m planning on attending QBRs to be able to meet those teams at the end of January. I’m really excited about that.
I had conversations today with sales ops and with strategy to be able to understand exactly what the data looks like. Anything we do is going to be data-driven right now. It’s not only going to be internally data-driven; it’s going to be externally data-driven. We’re going to look at the market trends and CAGRs of the various routes to market that we’ve talked about. With a limited workforce and a limited budget just like everybody has (I don’t care how big you are), you need to be smart and be able to optimize the level of spend and the level of resources. And we’re going to be able to do that.
I look at it as a combination of a few things. I had the good fortune and the humility to have run channel marketing before – how we message to the channel – and channel training – how do we message not just what the product is but what really what the buyer journey is, what the seller journey is and the tools to be able to enable those journeys. And to be able to work with product marketing, especially for the GSIs and some of the larger organizations that want to co-innovate with us. Those are just a few things.
It’s exciting, because in Cato it’s manageable. It’s absolutely manageable. All of the people that head those organizations have reached out to me and said, “Hey, we want to work with you.” We see the channel as the opportunity of the future, and I can guarantee you it’s not like that all over the place.
CF: Are there any goals that you’ve set for the growth of channel at Cato?
FR: One thing I’ve gained from both the recruiting and interview process and over the last 48-72 hours is that the goals will be congruent. You’re not going to have this separate channel goal and this separate corporate goal. The channel goal will be built in. Obviously there have to be attribution metrics. Obviously we want to be to focus on channel-led, in terms of how we can leverage the channel to create demand. But I think it’s going to be extremely collaborative. Like I said, the technology is compelling. The solution is compelling. It’s one of the best bets on the board.
I had an opportunity to be able to talk to one of the people who was running a large service provider channel … I said, “When you lose, who do you lose to?” And the first word out of their mouth was, “Cato.” At that point, I’m [thinking], “OK, if this individual’s talking about Cato, then that’s something to really consider.” My point in saying that is, I think the opportunity is ubiquitous. I think we’re going to take advantage of that opportunity.
The goals are going to be the corporate goals. What I will do is layer the attribution into those goals. So when you see that growth chart, you’re going to see the channel contributing to that, and it’s going to be very clear. But it’s not going to be in a way where we pit the direct sales force against the channel, where we pit the agents against the resellers and the managed service providers. It’s going to be collaborative.
CF: Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?
FR: The reason that people are going to the cloud – not just for SASE or SD-WAN – is that the world is dynamic. The world is threatened. Change is happening quickly. If you need to upgrade or repurpose an environment, it’s a lot easier to do it in the cloud than with multiple devices. You have the speed, and you have the impact.
From a partner perspective, it’s all about recurring revenue. If you look some of the acquisitions that have happened in the channel, whether it’s private equity or a larger partner buying a smaller partner, it’s all about multiples. If you want to win the multiple game, it’s all about recurring revenue. And you have a better chance of doing that in the cloud than with anything that’s physical, whether it’s an appliance or a server or whatever. That’s why I’m excited about the opportunity.
CF: Is there anything you’d like to say directly to the partner community?
FR: You’ve trusted me. I’ve trusted you for over 15 years over various opportunities. Let’s keep that trust going. I’ll be reach out to you, but if I don’t reach out to you quickly enough, please give me a call. I think everybody in the industry has my phone number, and I think my email is pretty intuitive: [email protected], and I guarantee you I will answer every single one of them.
CF: Is there anything else you’d like to talk about?
FR: The reason that people are going to the cloud – not just for SASE or SD-WAN – is that the world is dynamic. The world is threatened. Change is happening quickly. If you need to upgrade or repurpose an environment, it’s a lot easier to do it in the cloud than with multiple devices. You have the speed, and you have the impact.
From a partner perspective, it’s all about recurring revenue. If you look some of the acquisitions that have happened in the channel, whether it’s private equity or a larger partner buying a smaller partner, it’s all about multiples. If you want to win the multiple game, it’s all about recurring revenue. And you have a better chance of doing that in the cloud than with anything that’s physical, whether it’s an appliance or a server or whatever. That’s why I’m excited about the opportunity.
CF: Is there anything you’d like to say directly to the partner community?
FR: You’ve trusted me. I’ve trusted you for over 15 years over various opportunities. Let’s keep that trust going. I’ll be reach out to you, but if I don’t reach out to you quickly enough, please give me a call. I think everybody in the industry has my phone number, and I think my email is pretty intuitive: [email protected], and I guarantee you I will answer every single one of them.
Frank Rauch, the architect of channel programs at HPE, VMware and Check Point, will lead worldwide partner efforts for secure access service edge (SASE) provider Cato Networks.
Rauch started his new position of global channel chief last week, almost a month after leaving his position as Check Point Software Technologies’ head of worldwide channel sales. He did not confirm his destination at the time, but reports indicated that he would join an emerging pre-IPO player in the communications and technology industry.
Cato Networks’ Frank Rauch
That turned out to be the fast-growing centaur Cato, whose technology platform Rauch said he found intriguing. Rauch, whose previous employers have specialized in networking, SD-WAN, cybersecurity and cloud, said he saw in Cato a convergence of those three technologies. Cato has earned the reputation of one of the industry’s first pure SASE players, whose cloud-based platform combines advanced cybersecurity and networking features.
Here’s our list of channel people on the move in December. |
“The cloud is the enterprise’s present and future, appliances are its past. Forward-thinking channel partners know their future lies in the cloud, but they need the right platform and technology partner to profit from the cloud. After doing my due diligence, I found Cato to be that partner,” Rauch said.
‘Accretive’ Growth
Cato Networks’ Alon Alter
For Cato, Rauch brings deep relationships with C-level leadership at some of the IT channel’s largest partners, distributors and vendors. He told Channel Futures that he and Cato will explore how to put those relationships to good use. He added that he looks forward to engaging with Cato’s growing technology advisor (agent) channel, a route to market that he has been learning more about in recent years.
“My intention is to be accretive in everything we do. To be able to create new business and not to displace anybody,” Rauch said in an interview with Channel Futures.
Cato chief revenue officer Alon Alter welcomed Rauch to the company.
We recently compiled a list of 20 top SD-WAN providers offering products and services via channel partners. |
“SASE is the future of enterprise networking and security,” Alter said. “With the Cato SASE Cloud, partners can get to market quickly with new reoccurring revenue streams, delivering differentiated converged enterprise networking and security capabilities and value-added support services.”
Rauch’s career in technology started in direct sales in collaboration with partners. He worked at HP from 2003 to 2012, following HP’s acquisition of Compaq. He ultimately took the lead for HP’s Americas enterprise channel at the end of his tenure at HP. From there he served as the vice president of VMware’s Americas partner organization. He worked at Check Point (which Cato co-founder Shlomo Kramer also co-founded) from 2019 to this month.
Service Provider and Personnel Growth
Cato announced several other appointments to its channel team. They specifically address the growth of the vendor’s service provider channel. For example, service providers such as KDDI and Windstream Enterprise.
Robert Holley, formerly Versa Networks’ senior sales director, joined Cato in December as associate vice president of VAR, resellers and service providers, Americas. Shane Hallen, formerly a strategic sales manager for service providers at Cisco Meraki, has also recently joined Cato. He is working as director of service provider sales for the Americas. Paolo Maestripieri, an alumnus of ThousandEyes, Zscaler, Juniper Networks and Global Crossing, will serve as director of EMEA service provider sales.
In addition, Cato promoted channel sales directors Ron Hamlett and Mark Draper. Hamlett will serve as associate vice president of technology services distributors and agents. Draper’s role is area vice president of EMEA channel sales.
Rauch explained why he chose Cato and how he views the vendor’s different partner routes to market. He also touched on his overall view of the partner landscape and the idea of ecosystems.
Scroll through the slideshow above to read Rauch’s comments.
Want to contact the author directly about this story? Have ideas for a follow-up article? Email James Anderson or connect with him on LinkedIn. |
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