New Virtana Channel Chief Worked for Microsoft, VMware

Hybrid cloud-management provider Virtana has tapped a software channel veteran to lead its efforts with partners.

Bob Kilbride has joined Virtana as vice president of channels and alliances. He will work to recruit more partners for Virtana and “strengthen existing channel and alliance partnerships.”

Virtana’s Bob Kilbride

“I’ll be focused on building a program that allows our partners to take advantage of the business opportunities that this powerful solution presents to them,” Kilbride told Channel Futures. “Virtana has always been a partner-friendly organization, with the vast majority of our business going through channels. Now we’re going to be providing even more value to our channel partners.”

The appointment comes after Virtana announced a $73 million funding round from Atalaya Capital Management, Elm Park Capital Management, HighBar Partners and Benhamou Global Ventures. The company said it would invest more in “product development, sales and marketing.”

Kilbride said he aims to accelerate Virtana’s channel growth in the upcoming year.

“I am passionate about building channel programs and teams that scale to support the highest growth for my company, while also delivering tremendous value to our partners and their clients,” Kilbride said. “Virtana is in an exciting stage, with recent funding and an impressive group of executives at the helm.”

Background

Kilbride previously worked for Perimeter 81 as vice president of channel sales. He served in that position for a year and oversaw the launch of the SASE vendor’s partner program. According to a news release, Perimeter 81’s year-over-year channel revenue increased by 300% during his tenure.

He also served as senior director of global channel sales for CloudHealth, which VMware bought in 2018. That position brought him into contact with a group of MSPs.

In addition, Kilbride worked as a partner account manager IoT device experience at Microsoft. He worked with OEM, ISV and distribution partners in that position.