The biggest channel people moves of H1
Unlike Southgate at the Euros, channel businesses made numerous key swaps in the first half. See who landed where in our rundown
It's only mid-July and the channel is already reeling from a whirlwind of exec changes. The senior leadership shifts started in the very first week of January and have barely slowed down since.
According to recruitment veteran Marc Sumner, commenting in an opinion for CRN back at the beginning of the year and then again in early July, one of the key factors at play was the downward pressure on sales at the tail end of 2023.
Though we keep hearing that a business recovery is imminent, the numbers failing to materialise last year meant that owners and chief executives kept a close eye on their senior leadership teams and any underperformance would have been met with considerable scrutiny.
This, according to Sumner, led to a lot of departures (voluntary or not) at the beginning of the year, as founders, CEOs and executives sought greener pastures.
Then there's the raft of M&A in H1, which brought with it conversations of succession planning, leadership transitions and many, many new hires.
As all that talent found a new home throughout Q1 and the beginning of Q2, those leaders are now putting their teams in place, leading to a second wave of recruitment and hiring.
As we wait to see what H2 holds, we've rounded up the biggest upheavals of the first half.
Keep reading for a recap of the biggest moves at TD SYNNEX, Bytes, Distology, Logicalis and others...
The biggest channel people moves of H1
Unlike Southgate at the Euros, channel businesses made numerous key swaps in the first half. See who landed where in our rundown
Murphy makes TD SYNNEX return
While January was chock-a-block with vendor moves heralding more to come, arguably the first major shake-up of the year came in Feb, when longtime TD SYNNEX vet Miriam Murphy rejoined the company from NTT Ltd, where she previously held the CEO seat for two years.
Murphy officially took up her role as president of Europe in April, reporting to COO Patrick Zammit. Zammit himself has since been tapped to replace outgoing CEO Rich Hume, a transition which will officially complete next year.
Are we likely to see others within the team, including Murphy, elevated as part of the shift? That remains to be seen.
The biggest channel people moves of H1
Unlike Southgate at the Euros, channel businesses made numerous key swaps in the first half. See who landed where in our rundown
Distology hires new CMO and CRO
Also in February, CRN Cybersecurity Distributor of the Year 2023, Distology came in swinging with Sarah Geary as its new chief marketing officer (CMO) and Lance Williams as chief technology officer (CTO).
Geary joined as CMO from Cybereason where she was director of partner marketing in EMEA and APAC, while Williams was promoted from his previous role as chief product officer.
Geary and Williams said that their respective priorities would be bringing structure and consistency to the marketing function and continuing to evolve Distology's product and services offer with partners' and customers' needs as a priority.
The biggest channel people moves of H1
Unlike Southgate at the Euros, channel businesses made numerous key swaps in the first half. See who landed where in our rundown
Former Logicalis exec moves to Auxilion
By late February, things were heating up. Auxilion hired Patrick Jordan as its new chief operating officer.
Jordan, who was previously CRO at Logicalis, joined the Irish MSP to focus on overall business strategy and oversee the company's growth in both Ireland and the UK, where the MSP has allocated £15m for growth, including an acquisition.
As well as implementing company-wide goals for internal teams to enhance performance, he will also support operations to deliver outcomes for Auxilion's customers.
Just before Jordan's appointment, Auxilion announced that its investment in service delivery was paying off wit a £6.8m pipeline of new deals delivered off the back of spending £1.3m on its capabilities.
The biggest channel people moves of H1
Unlike Southgate at the Euros, channel businesses made numerous key swaps in the first half. See who landed where in our rundown
Logicalis exec reshuffle continues
Early on in the year, Top VARs alum Logicalis suffered a couple of key losses – Jordan's aforementioned departure and UK MD Alex Louth, who announced in February that he would be leaving the business after several months of garden leave.
It was the perfect occasion for an organisational reshuffle though, as the MSP announced Neil Eke as its new CEO for the UK, Ireland, and Channel Islands.
Eke came into the role from Computacenter, where he had spent 12 of the past 20 years of his career.
"Neil's strategic acumen, combined with his industry expertise and dedication to fostering talent and a culture of diversity, make him the perfect choice to lead Logicalis UK&I," said Robert Bailkoski, CEO of Logicalis Group, said at the time.
The biggest channel people moves of H1
Unlike Southgate at the Euros, channel businesses made numerous key swaps in the first half. See who landed where in our rundown
A bunch of changes at D55
In March, it was time for Cloud Technology Services vet, Chris Bunch, to make his own announcement. After three and a half years at the Google specialist, latterly as its COO, Bunch opted to explore greener pastures, moving to another specialist consultancy – this time AWS-focused D55.
"I've joined Jonathan Rothwell, Rhys Jacob and the rest of the amazing D55 Limited team on their mission to provide complex Amazon Web Services (AWS) modernisation services to UK businesses, Bunch announced on LinkedIn.
"My actual "Day 1" was yesterday and was a very entertaining whirlwind. I'm writing this on a train down to London for a few more doubtless lively days of sessions."
His move came after CTS merged with AppsBroker earlier in the year.
The biggest channel people moves of H1
Unlike Southgate at the Euros, channel businesses made numerous key swaps in the first half. See who landed where in our rundown
Murphy out, Mudd in at Bytes
February wasn't even over, and the news kept coming.
With one week left of the month, Bytes CEO Neil Murphy unexpectedly exited the company over undisclosed trades.
Longtime Bytes cadre Sam Mudd was appointed as interim CEO and tasked with restoring confidence in a business that over the past year had significantly outperformed the market.
Mudd's appointment was made permanent in early May, ahead of Mudd hitting the press circuit to discuss the reseller's impressive annual results. Her tenure has so far been marked by a stable message and a return of key former cadres to the business, but the market is yet to be convinced.
LSE-listed Bytes' share price has grown since its plummet after Murphy's exit, but it hasn't quite returned to its January levels.
The biggest channel people moves of H1
Unlike Southgate at the Euros, channel businesses made numerous key swaps in the first half. See who landed where in our rundown
Bytes shoots for the moon with Hayley Mooney return
In April, Crayon's UK MD, Hayley Mooney, revealed that she was was set to return to her alma mater, Bytes. She would make her return after 12 years with Crayon,
The news followed Bytes appointing Sam Mudd as CEO and marked what was, by all accounts, the channel's most amicable separation.
Mooney has since announced that she is taking on the role of Chief Commercial Officer at Bytes.
She will be working closely with Bytes MD, Jack Gault.
The biggest channel people moves of H1
Unlike Southgate at the Euros, channel businesses made numerous key swaps in the first half. See who landed where in our rundown
Mark Halpin steps down down from CloudCoCo
In April, CloudCoCo founder Mark Halpin made waves with his own announcement that he was stepping down as CEO and board member of the MSP with immediate effect.
Halpin founded the Leeds-HQ business in 2018 and grew it into a £30m turnover MSP in six years.
The board is yet to appoint his replacement as of July 2024.
Halpin revealed the news in a emotional LinkedIn post, thanking his former colleagues.
"But as much as this journey has been about numbers and milestones, it has been about the people – the passionate souls who have brought my ideas to life and poured their hearts and souls into this company day in and day out. Each and every one of you has left an indelible mark on CloudCoCo, and for that, I am eternally grateful," he said.
The biggest channel people moves of H1
Unlike Southgate at the Euros, channel businesses made numerous key swaps in the first half. See who landed where in our rundown
Version 1 brings in leadership team 2.0
Version 1 was another MSP who made dramatic changes to its senior leadership across May and June. The news started trickling in in early May.
The Dublin-HQ firm announced a leadership reshuffle, placing Louise Lahiff as chief operating officer (COO) and Patrick Cooney as chief financial officer (CFO).
Lahiff had been with the business for over a decade, while Cooney was parachuted in from Kerry Group.
Both hires were part of a business reorg after a year of organic growth, which saw the MSP top $100m in revenue and acquire Farsight Consulting.
Then, in June, Alex Louth resurfaced at the company, taking on the role of managing director for its services reliability group.
"I've known some of the team at Version 1 for many years, and it's wonderful to be part of a business that matches the ambition and drive I was seeking in a new venture," Louth said in a LinkedIn post announcing the move.
The biggest channel people moves of H1
Unlike Southgate at the Euros, channel businesses made numerous key swaps in the first half. See who landed where in our rundown
Six Degrees of separation between channel firms
Finally, in June, we saw former Sapphire Systems CEO Vince DeLuca join fellow MSP Six Degrees in the same role.
His appointment followed the exit of previous CEO Simon Crawley-Trice, as well as a roster of appointments at the company.
Earlier that month, the London-HQ service provider welcomed Brendan Lynch as its new chief revenue officer from fellow MSP FluidOne, ranked 59 in CRN's ranking of the UK's top 100 resellers by revenue.
With less than six months to go in 2024 and a few unresolved executive moves still lingering, will we see Sumner's prediction of staff reshuffles lower down the food chain?