Riverbed Technology has appointed Ramzi Itani as its Regional Channel Sales Director for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa region. In this new role, Ramzi will focus on the development and enablement of Riverbed’s regional channel, in-line with the company’s global channel strategy. He reports to Giovanni Di Filippo, Vice President, Channels, for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Riverbed and Taj Elkhayat, Regional Vice President, META.
Giovanni Di Filippo explains, “Ramzi has a proven track record in effective channel management, and has been particularly successful in addressing the challenges that the channel community in emerging markets and mid-size growth countries face, which is definitely a valuable asset given the regional market dynamics.”
Taj Elkhayat adds, “With the rapid evolution of our product portfolio and the constant enhancement to feature sets, our close engagement with the channel is crucial to ensuring that these technological benefits translate to implementations that result in tangible business benefits for our customers. Ramzi will be a great addition to our META leadership team and I believe that his ability to identify and develop strong and successful partnerships will ensure that we build upon and further enable our highly-skilled partner ecosystem.”
In recent years, Riverbed’s focus has been to help partners expand across three key areas: building an embedded solution and services program, driving joint engagement, and accelerating repeatable revenue. As Riverbed adopts a 100% channel driven model in the META region, Ramzi’s work will play a pivotal role in the success of the company.
Ramzi says, “As organisations begin to embark on their digital transformation journey, Riverbed is very well placed to address the key application performance challenges they face. I intend to further develop our community of ‘focused’ channel partners that leverage the Riverbed Application Performance Platform to deliver comprehensive networking solutions, and help customers realise the true potential of their IT investments through their expertly delivered value-add services.”
Ramzi brings over 23 years of experience in the IT industry to Riverbed. He has served several roles including sales, marketing and channels while working for reputable companies such as 3M, Imation, Microsoft, Cisco, Symantec and Veritas. Through his career, he has focused on building channel strategies and redefining partner programs as well as implemented reseller, alliances and distribution optimization initiatives that translated into accelerated and sustainable growth.
Ramzi has a BS in Computer Science and Mathematics as well an MBA in Marketing from University of Leicester in the UK.