Lumen, CenturyLink Vet to Lead Trustwave Partners Globally

Trustwave partners have a new global leader. Garrett Gee, previously with Lumen Technologies/CenturyLink and previously Level 3, is Trustwave’s new global vice president of indirect channels and alliances.

In this role, Gee will be responsible for establishing and managing Trustwave’s ecosystem of alliances and strategic technology partners. He brings to the company more than 20 years of industry experience.

Gee announced his new role in a LinkedIn post:

Trustwave’s Garrett Gee

“This is an exciting opportunity for me to develop and grow the channel at an award-winning cybersecurity company. Thank you to all my friends and colleagues for their support during my job search. I’m looking forward to this new adventure, and growing my career and the channel at Trustwave.”

Gee most recently was Lumen’s senior vice president of indirect sales. He left that role in September 2021.

Before that, he was CenturyLink’s (rebranded to Lumen) senior vice president of indirect. And he was with Level 3 Communications for more than 11 years.

Managed Security Services ‘Hot’ Topic for Channel

“Managed security services have recently become a hot topic for the channel, and Trustwave is one of the leaders in the market,” Gee said. “Trustwave’s expertise with a 25-year legacy in cybersecurity was a huge draw for me as I wanted to join a team with world-class detection, response and threat intelligence capabilities that was eager to invest and grow in the channel. I was attracted to Trustwave’s unique combination of nimble execution with its market-leading, comprehensive portfolio. Since joining, I’ve been impressed with the quality, passion and commitment throughout the company, from leadership through to delivery and across supporting functions.” 

Gee said his prior experience gave him the opportunity to understand the cybersecurity challenges that partners and clients face.

“This creates a huge opportunity for partners and Trustwave as the threat landscape continues to evolve,” he said. “I’m excited to have joined a company like Trustwave with a team of professionals solely focused on delivering security solutions for our partners and clients.”

Trustwave Takes Global Approach with Channel Strategy

Trustwave has taken a global approach to its channel strategy that supports the needs of partners in each region it operates in, Gee said. This provides support in a variety of different ways based on where partners are located around the globe.

“For example, in the United States, the indirect sales motion is the dominant go-to-market (GTM), but in EMEA and APAC, reseller (both direct and distributor) are the preferred methods,” he said. “Finally, our robust alliance strategy supports our key strategic relationships with no boundaries. Regardless of the channel GTM, we plan to invest and expand in all areas to improve our partner relationships and drive value to our clients and Trustwave.”

Gee said he’s still assessing Trustwave’s channel program. He’s looking at everything, from initial engagement, to the partner and client experience that Trustwave is delivering.

“Once I conclude that review, we’ll set a strategic path for where we want our channel program to be in the next one, three, five years and start working on initiatives to achieve those goals,” he said. “As we navigate through this exciting change, we will always keep partners and clients at the forefront of what we do to ensure that we’re delivering a best-in-class service and experience.”

Bringing the Same Perspective from Lumen to Trustwave

Gee said Lumen‘s indirect channel was a critical part of that company’s growth strategy. He plans to bring “that same perspective and passion” to Trustwave.

“The great thing is that it’s clear that I have the support of the executive team to drive this agenda as growing our channel program is a key strategy for Trustwave,” he said. “My experience across two decades in the channel of building trust through the partner community will allow us to continue our channel revenue growth, and drive momentum and value for the company.”

As attack surfaces increase from the rapid digitization of services with fewer security resources, the need to detect threats before they cause irreparable damage is greater than ever, Gee said.

“As such, we work together with partners to provide our clients with the ability to continually fine tune their environments to provide the right telemetry and response at the right time,” he said. “I’m confident our unique combination of world-class security talent and our market-leading managed detection and response (MDR) offerings will allow us to meet the security needs of our global partners and clients.”