Cybereason Chooses Former AppDynamics Exec as Channel Chief

Cybereason has appointed Ghazal Asif, previously with AppDynamics, as senior vice president of worldwide channels.

Asif brings more than 10 years of experience in building indirect go-to-market channel programs for fast-growth technology companies. Prior to Cybereason, she was AppDynamics‘ vice president of worldwide channels, global service providers and cloud providers.

Cybereason’s Ghazal Asif

Asif tells Channel Partners that Cybereason’s current channel strategy is a “good start.”

“We already have several great partners,” she said. “For example … we’ve just announced our partnership with Trustwave, which validated the direction towards MSSPs is working. Given our growth, our commitment to the channel and our mindset of constantly evolving, we have evolved our strategy and subsequent plan for partners. We will be sharing further details very soon. Stay tuned!”

Asif said she’s assessing the value “we want to bring to our customers as this informs the partners we need to work closely with and the investments we need to make in them.”

“Second, I’m completely changing and reinventing how partner programs are structured,” she said. “Most partner programs put partners into different boxes, but partners and their businesses are becoming so diverse, this way [of] engaging is outdated. For example, many resellers already have managed services and many managed service providers are doing resale and system integration. Third, I’m investing a lot of time in addressing any potential conflicts that exist today between Cybereason and our partners as it’s important to address conflict via processes and policies instead of expecting people to figure it out.”

Asif said she’s also looking to enable and empower the Cybereason channel team so they can provide “maximum value to our partners.”

“I’m transparent, direct and always open to feedback,” she said. “We are striving to build a one-of-a-kind, next-generation partner program. We might not get it right every time, but I promise you we will learn, fail fast, grow and make a tremendous impact together.”

During her tenure at AppDynamics, Asif increased partner-driven sales from $20 million to $100 million, and launched the Titan Partner Program, Pioneer Program, a new rebate structure and partner enablement program. Prior to AppDynamics, Asif worked for Meraki as the director of global channel sales. Through the channel, she helped drive Meraki’s growth from $100 million to $500 million.

Cisco acquired both Meraki and AppDynamics, and Asif was instrumental in leveraging Cisco’s partner base to drive incremental revenue.

“Ghazal is a proven channel leader, and the impact and value she is already bringing to Cybereason are undeniable,” said Lior Div, Cybereason’s CEO and co-founder. “We are super excited to have her driving our broad global channel expansion. Cybereason is rapidly expanding across the world with channel partners, integrators and MSSPs that bring a strong desire to be successful and bring value to our joint customers. With our innovative products, proactive, sophisticated mindset and our ambitious vision, talented professionals such as Ghazal will play an instrumental role in our future success.”