CDN Women of the IT Channel Ecosystem 2014
CDN’s fifth annual list of Women in the IT Channel Ecosystem selected top personalities from all sectors of the channel.
These senior women executives are shaping the economy of IT in Canada. This year CDN broke down its list into sections to properly represent each area of the channel. They are leaders, channel chiefs, distributors, trusted advisors and a special category called mavericks, which features executives in sales and marketing roles. There are 23 returning executives from 2013’s list.
There are just three non-Canadian born executives who made the cut. As for the Canadians, some hold worldwide roles, while others have a specific North American responsibility.
Our fourth category is: Distributors
Renee Bergeron
VP MSP & Cloud, Ingram Micro
Renee Bergeron reminds many that she is Canadian even though she now has her home in California. Bergeron is one of the most sought-after cloud experts in high tech. In 2014, Bergeron released a complete ecosystem of cloud solutions for the channel called Ingram Cloud Marketplace.
Read more: Ingram Micro to provide unlocked BlackBerry phones to VARs
Irene Buchan
Director of Marketing, Tech Data Canada
Irene Buchan earlier this year launched a new marketing initiative for Tech Data called TDEngage. What makes this marketing program different from the rest is that it’s does not come in the form of a vendor directive. The home-grown program addresses the marketing goals of the solution providers as well as the vendor partners.
Read more: Tech Data partners to provide cloud services through Microsoft CSP
Siobhan Byron
VP and GM, Westcon Canada
After spending a year on maternity leave, Siobhan Byron created an incubation initiative that allows Westcon to take a close look at up and coming vendors for digital distribution. She says this initiative helps the value-added distributor know if the vendor is offering the right solutions and can add value.
Read more: Westcon Canada has a new leader
Jacqueline Cooper
Vice president of Retail Sales, Synnex Canada
The former RIM executive joined Synnex Canada in the summer of 2012 to help develop the distributor’s retail business. Cooper has more than two decades of experience in the channel and at one time was the VP of global distribution for the BlackBerry maker.
Read more: More Solvs, more services from Synnex Canada
Wendy Franklin
Head of mobility, Tech Data Canada
Tech Data Canada hired Wendy Franklin, a 16-year veteran of the channel, away from rival Ingram Micro Canada to drive its mobility division. Franklin is mandated to plan out the strategy for the new mobility division.
Jennifer Johnson
VP of Marketing and VTN chief, Ingram Micro
2014 was a year of change for Jennifer Johnson. She moved to the Buffalo office from the Canadian headquarters in Mississauga, Ont. She was instrumental in bring the distributor’s new marketing agency called AIM or Agency Ingram Micro to the Canadian market. To top things off, Johnson was named co-chief of VentureTech Network with Jim Veraldi.
Read more: Ingram Micro unveils new cloud offerings
Lynn Smurthwaite-Murphy
Executive VP for NA, Westcon Group Inc.
Lynn Smurthwaite-Murphy was named Executive Vice President for North America for the value added distributor earlier this year. Under her previous title Senior Vice President of North America, she worked on the Veracloud acquisition as well as bringing more security solutions to the line card.
Read more: Palo Alto Networks goes global with Westcon Group