McAfee Channel Chief Alex Thurber is exiting the Intel-owned security software company to pursue a new opportunity, according to sources in the know. The sources tell The VAR Guy that McAfee’s channel commitment remains firmly in place. No cause for panic, folks. Thurber is a talented guy but The VAR Guy suspects a McAfee successor is in place. Here’s the background.
The VAR Guy could not reach Thurber, McAfee senior VP of worldwide channel operations, for comment. Our resident blogger has also reached out to McAfee PR for potential comment.
Thurber’s Track Record at McAfee
Thurber joined McAfee in August 2009 after a successful run at Cisco Systems. While at McAfee, Thurber eliminated any lingering partner concerns about McAfee’s channel commitment. Over the past two years, McAfee has steadily revised its partner program to more effectively reward VARs. McAfee has also engaged MSPs with SaaS-centric security software — part of McAfee’s MX Logic acquisition.
Most recently, Thurber has been educating channel partners about the growing integration between Intel hardware and McAfee software. Intel acquired McAfee in February 2011.
In a mid-2011 interview with The VAR Guy, Thurber said McAfee had business relationships with 98 of the Fortune 100 companies. Channel engagements were one of McAfee’s top five priorities for the year — backed by an SMB partner program that’s designed to help VARs with customer engagements of up to about 250 seats.
At the time, Thurber said McAfee had spent about $20 million overhauling its internal CRM systems, and some of the enhancements were specifically designed for channel partners.
By October 2011, the Intel-McAfee strategy was more fully explained during the McAfee Focus conference.
Thurber’s Next Move
Where is Thurber heading next? Hmmm… So far, The VAR Guy’s sources are mum. But The VAR Guy has a hunch: For a channel chief to jump away from a job he loves, it typically involves a smaller company with big growth aspirations…
Meanwhile back at McAfee, sources say, the channel team is firmly in place and it sounds like a successor for Thurber has been named or could be named within days.
Still, nothing above has been officially confirmed by McAfee or Thurber. The VAR Guy admits he’s going out on a limb with this blog entry. But he trusts his sources… and the limb upon which he stands.
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