Vonage Adds Second Windstream Alum in 'Aggressive' Push

Another longtime Windstream employee has joined Vonage‘s channel team.

Vonage’s Greg Franzen

The cloud communications provider hired Greg Franzen as director of strategic partners for North America. The company said Franzen will specialize in helping strategic partners in the eastern U.S., focusing on “strategic alignment and execution in the field.”

Franzen’s hiring is the latest in a series of “aggressive” growth steps by Vonage. The company launched The Vonage Partner Network channel program in March, followed by the expansion of its API partner program.

“We are committed to the success and growth of the channel as we continue to revolutionize the way we support partners through investments in sales, marketing and technology infrastructure to help them be more successful and better serve their customers,” said Kevin Thomsen, national vice president of strategic partners. “Greg is a proven leader in the channel, with experience in driving incremental growth, motivating partner teams, and developing successful, collaborative go-to-market strategies.”

Franzen, who will report to Thomsen, most recently worked for Sierra Wireless, directing efforts for strategic partners, MSPs and VARs. His career includes a 13-year tenure at Windstream, where he ultimately oversaw the company’s agent channel in the Mid-Atlantic.

He spent a decade in the same company as Mario DeRiggi, who recently joined Vonage to beef up its “transactional channel.”

Franzen said Wednesday that business cloud communications is a rising market.

“The company clearly values and supports its channel partners, and works diligently to provide them with unique, powerful solutions that drive better business outcomes for their customers,” he said. “I look forward to working with this team to advocate relentlessly for innovative solutions and develop practice-specific strategies that incorporate a sustainable competitive advantage for our partners.”