Equinix Hires Former Citrix VP of Worldwide Partner Engagement

Tricia Atchison is joining data center infrastructure provider Equinix as VP of global partner and Americas marketing. Atchison announced her move on Monday via LinkedIn, less than a week after revealing her departure from Citrix.

Atchison spent more than four years at Citrix, most recently as its VP of worldwide partner engagement and experience. At Citrix, Atchison oversaw the company’s global partner marketing, enablement, communications and recruitment, according to her LinkedIn profile. During much of her tenure there, it was a time of uncertainty and ultimately a period of transition for Citrix.

Ultimately, last year, private equity (PE) firms Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital acquired Citrix for $16.5 billion. The PE firms subsequently formed Cloud Software Group (CSG), which includes Tibco and Citrix. Earlier this month, CSG began transitioning Citrix partners into its new partner program. CSG’s new head of global channels, Ethan Fitzsimons, who joined Citrix in 2020, outlined the new program in January.

Equinix’s Tricia Atchison

“I worked with some incredible people, had a phenomenal team, had the opportunity to create some amazing programs, and was able to continue to learn and develop,” Atchison posted on LinkedIn. “As I get ready to start the next chapter in my career, I am excited to take all those learnings and experiences with me.”

Atchison’s departure from Citrix comes amid a flurry of layoffs at the company during the past two years. Though partners still consider Citrix a significant force in the virtual desktop market, the company has faced mounting competition. Many Citrix rivals offer modern alternative cloud desktop solutions.

Veteran Channel Marketer

Atchison is in her fourth decade marketing channel programs. In 2020, Channel Futures identified Atchison as one of its 51 Top Gun influencers in 2020. Before joining Citrix, she held roles at CA, Veritas, Symantec, Seagate and Data Code.

At Equinix, Atchison is joining the dominant provider of data center colocation facilities. Equinix is in one of the few IT segments that haven’t fallen victim to current economic conditions. During its fiscal year 2022, which ended Dec. 31, Equinix’s revenues grew 9%, to $6.9 billion.

For the current year, Equinix expects revenues to grow by 12-14% topping $8.1 billion, according to last month’s guidance. Equinix shared the guidance during last month’s quarterly and year-end earnings report. In that announcement, Equinix said it had closed more than 17,000 deals among over 6,000 customers in 2022.