Each year, Computer Reseller News (CRN) honors hundreds of women for their IT channel expertise and vision. Their Women of the Channel list includes some of the most powerful women in IT who are being recognized by CRN for their outstanding leadership, vision and unique role in driving channel growth and innovation.
I would like to congratulate Gemalto’s own Colleen McMillan, Ariane Seiferth, Tia Garaas and Margaret Chum who have been included in CRN’s 2018 Women of the Channel list! Here is why our four power women were included:
Colleen McMillan serves as VP of Global Alliance Sales and Channel Programs. In that capacity, she leads Gemalto’s global channel sales strategy and programs. She’s already built up the company’s worldwide Channel team from scratch and created a sales strategy that produced double-digit channel growth in multiple regions by focusing on partner profitability and making Gemalto easier to do business with.
Ariane Seiferth: As Gemalto’s Director of Distribution & Strategic Accounts, Ariane focuses on strengthening the efficiencies of distribution partners. This led her to forge strategic relationships with personnel in distribution, VARs, vendors, marketing teams, product teams and sales teams. She then leveraged these connections to bolster market growth and product sales.
Tia Marie Garaas works as Channel Program Communications Manager on the Gemalto Cipher Partner Program since September 2017. In that span of time, she has worked to improve the Voice of the Partner Annual Survey, and the Partner Monthly newsletter focusing on the Top 5 updates in 5 minutes with the goal of making communication between partners and internal teams consistent and as clear as possible to drive greater engagement and awareness of new partner tools and program benefits.
Margaret Chum, as Channel Program Manager, works to augment the success of the Cipher Channel Program. She led the push in 2017 to turn this program into a worldwide framework and successfully operationalize the new Gemalto Cipher Partner Program. Now she’s working closely with partners to help them increase their business in cybersecurity and overall profitability.
According to Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company, this accomplished group of leaders is steadily guiding the IT channel into a prosperous new era of services-led business models and deep, strategic partnerships. CRN’s 2018 Women of the Channel list honors executives who are driving channel progress through a number of achievements—exemplary partner programs, innovative product development and marketing, effective team-building, visionary leadership and accelerated sales growth—as well as advocacy for the next generation of women channel executives.
For more information about what makes Colleen, Ariane, Tia and Margaret truly exceptional IT channel executives, check out CRN’s Women of the Channel 2018 list.