Sage Taps Former Splunk, Microsoft Executive For Channel Chief

Sage, a developer of business management and accounting applications for small and mid-size businesses, has named former Splunk and Microsoft channel executive Aziz Benmalek (pictured) to be the company’s channel chief.

As executive vice president of Sage’s global partner organization, Benmalek will be responsible for leading the company’s global partner strategy and its ecosystem of solution providers, accounting firms, ISVs and strategic alliance partners, the company said.

More specifically Benmalek will be tasked with helping partners evolve their businesses toward SaaS recurring revenue models and “building the breadth and depth of the Sage Business Cloud portfolio with add-on cloud solutions” from partners, according to the company.

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“Our focus is to create an ecosystem that is rich in new opportunities for every type of Sage partner, bringing the technology our shared customers need to help them during this difficult time for businesses around the world,” Benmalek said in the statement announcing his appointment.

Sage’s partners account for about 35 percent of the company’s revenue.

Benmalek will also lead the Sage Business Cloud Marketplace, spurring its growth by introducing it to additional regions and onboarding more ISVs and third-party application developers. The online marketplace is currently available in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and France with solutions from nearly 180 ISV partners that add industry-specific functionality to Sage systems.

Benmalek joins Sage from Splunk where he was the big data software company’s channel chief for about two years, serving as vice president, worldwide indirect sales, partners and business development.

Before Splunk Benmalek worked in various posts at Microsoft for more than 22 years, including general manager of hosting and cloud services and, at the time he left, vice president of worldwide cloud and managed service providers.

“As our partners and customers continue to adapt their businesses to succeed in the current climate, the need for digital transformation is rapidly accelerating,” said Lee Perkins, Sage chief operating officer, in a statement.

“Customers are looking to our partners for cloud solutions that make it easy for them to do business. Aziz joins us with deep knowledge and experience in channel first cloud computing and a passion for customer success. Through his leadership, Sage is positioned to support our partners’ success – and that of our mutual customers – better than ever before.”