New global channel boss announced at Forcepoint

Parag Patel to take on the role of senior VP of global channel sales

Forcepoint has appointed Parag Patel as its new senior vice-president of global channel sales.

Patel has more than 20 years of experience as a global channels and business development leader, including 14 years at VMware where he played a key role in helping the company grow its annual sales.

He most recently worked for enterprise AI firm C3.ai where he helped to build partnerships for the company.

"After more than 20 years of leading global channels and sales teams, I understand the critical role partners play in customer adoption and satisfaction," Patel said.

"From distributors to solution providers and systems integrators, MSPs, cloud partners, OEMs and technology alliances, we plan to harness the value of a broad ecosystem to make the enterprise as secure as possible.

"Our mission is to create friction-free partnerships, to foster a spirit of collaboration in the channel, and to ensure that Forcepoint's customers receive unparalleled service and support."

Patel's leadership will see Forcepoint make "strategic investments" in its partner ecosystem, the company says, while hoping to transform its channel into an "expert deployment and support arm of the company's comprehensive data-first SASE platform".

Forcepoint's CRO John DiLullo believes Patel can "excite, invigorate and accelerate" Forcepoint and its partners success, labelling him an "experienced architect of programs".

"Securing and protecting our customers is job number one; nurturing a vibrant partner and alliance ecosystem is step one towards that goal," Patel added.

"I am excited to be leading this critical element of Forcepoint's transformation and look forward to sharing more details in the coming weeks and months."