CenturyLink, Avnet Promote Cloud Sales Execs to Kick Off New Year

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

A new year brings newfound optimism for many, particularly those who have been promoted by their companies.

CenturyLink has introduced Tim Meehan as its new senior vice president and general manager of CenturyLink Government. Many partners will know him from his time as the company’s vice president of sales for the East region and financial services industry. He also was responsible for inside sales for CenturyLink Technology Solutions.

“I’m excited to bring my knowledge of the managed hosting and IT services business to CenturyLink Government’s high-performing team and tremendous array of federal clients,” Meehan said.

Before CenturyLink, Meehan led sales for Oracle’s cloud hosting business in North America.

Government customers can get public, private and hybrid cloud services from CenturyLink, which promises “the security and reliability they need to carry out their missions.” The company’s biggest move to date in the cloud space came in 2011 when the Louisiana-based company acquired Savvis, the cloud infrastructure and hosted services provider, for $2.5 billion. That allowed CenturyLink to start offering expanded cloud services and managed hosting services, as noted in this blog from master agency Telarus. The company followed that up in 2013 by buying AppFog, a platform as a service, and Tier 3, an infrastructure-as-a-service company.

Meantime, tech distributor Avnet, a Fortune 500 company, has promoted Patrick Zammit as global president of its Technology Solutions operating group. He previous was president of Avnet Electronics Marketing EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).

Avnet wants Zammit to lead global strategy, day-to-day operations and performance. He has been with Avnet for nearly 22 years, holding positions in finance, operations and strategic planning.

“I believe Patrick is the right leader to take advantage of new opportunities for profitable growth at Avnet Technology Solutions which will contribute to the long-term success of Avnet,” said Avnet CEO Rick Hamada. “His achievements as president of Avnet Electronics Marketing EMEA include a significant increase in profitability as well as increases in market share in both the semiconductor and IP&E markets. He has expertise in managing complex multicultural and geographic markets and is known as a passionate business leader with the ability to develop strategies that deliver market-leading results.”

Avnet said last summer that it was expanding its 30-year relationship with IBM by offering the tech giant’s SoftLayer cloud technology and services to its reseller and integration customers, a move expected to help Avnet partners expand their cloud portfolios with the support of technology from Big Blue.

Last but not least, Stan Clark is settling into his new job as vice president of cloud solutions at Ingram Micro.

First announced last month, Clark will play a major role in the channel by recruiting key strategic partners and developing new services for vertical markets. He also will “manage the partner experience” within the cloud division’s product marketing and management, vendor management and cloud solutions teams.

Clark comes to Ingram from HP, where he was worldwide senior director for that company’s Office of the Customer Board of Directors. He’s credited for contributing to HP’s business growth, serving as global director of strategy and planning. He also was senior director of managed services and solutions in HP’s Printers and Personal Systems group. He has channel experience in both the enterprise and with SMBs.

“I am thrilled to join such a dynamic team of business-minded technology professionals and help channel partners ‘Realize the Promise of Technology’ by using Ingram Micro’s cloud services and solutions,” said Clark. “Together, we can build a strategic advantage that will not only benefit their business, but also bring tremendous gains to their customers.”

2014 was a busy year for Ingram Micro, which, like Avnet, signed a distribution deal with IBM. The company also unveiled its cloud marketplace. Ingram Micro Cloud’s Jason Bystrak explained in this one-on-one interview with me at CompTIA ChannelCon in Phoenix in August.

Follow senior online managing editor @Craig_Galbraith on Twitter.