New Aryaka Channel Chief Led EarthLink Partners

Aryaka has appointed another new executive — this one of key interest to partners.

Aryaka’s Olen Scott

Olen Scott now serves as the SD-WAN provider’s senior vice president of worldwide channels. The company tasked him with partner recruitment and enablement, and scaling the partner program globally.

He replaces Claudio Perugini, who served in the channel-chief role at Aryaka for a year. Karen Freitag, chief revenue officer, said in the Wednesday announcement that the San Mateo, California-based company will balance Scott’s vision with existing partners’ expectations.

“Olen will play a critical role in growing Aryaka’s global channel program, and we’re thrilled to have his extensive experience in the managed services and communications industries added to our robust leadership team,” Freitag said. “Our focus on the channel has been steadfast, and Aryaka’s partners have played an essential role in establishing the company as a managed SD-WAN leader.”

Scott joins an influx of new Aryaka leaders, many of whom hold share a history with new CEO Matt Carter at employers like Sprint and Inteliquent. Deepak Kumar came on board as senior vice president of customer success late last year. A trio of appointees followed him a month later.

The telecommunications channel knows Olen Scott well. He most recently led sales and business development for Purple Communications, boasting a 22 percent year-over-year revenue increase. Scott most notably led EarthLink’s channel from 2015 to 2017. Windstream put him in charge of partners when it acquired EarthLink, but Curt Allen replaced him not long afterward.

“Aryaka is a true leader in the managed SD-WAN space, and its technology is a game-changer for the channel community, which is why I’m excited to be joining at such an exciting stage in the organization’s evolution,” Scott said. “The company’s channel partners have played an essential role in the success of Aryaka, so my focus will be on expanding and improving its existing program globally, while ensuring the channel organization is aligned with Aryaka’s company-wide priorities in 2019 and beyond.”

The vendor calls partnerships “a top priority” for 2019. It made several announcements around its security technology partner program last year and added a new member last month.