Massimo Collu

Led the channel Team EMEA (52 people) Improved Team’s creation & management of pipeline. Identified improvement areas and put in place strategies and tactics to drive results Reviewed channel ecosystem, coverage model & redefined role of Partner Managers Stabilised revenue YoY and increased pipeline creation & conversion. Current revenue ~$120M x year Drove alignment between Channel and Field Sales. Improved effectiveness of joint sales cycles and drove a 25% growth YoY in Partner generated revenue

Reporting to the SVP of Worldwide Sales, my mission is to redesign the Channel Strategy and Channel Programs on a global basis, with the objective of increasing growth, gaining better traction and mindshare in the channel and optimizing the channel ecosystem. In addition to the above, I am part of the team that is designing the GTM and Channel Strategies for the company’s Cloud and SaaS offering (Avid Everywhere).

Reporting to the VP EMEA successfully managed the EMEA Channel Sales Team (80 strong), delivering revenue of ~$1B per annum, in a complex and highly matrixed organisation across EMEA. In addition, defined and implemented Adobe’s multi-tier/multi-RTM Channel strategy, piloted in EMEA and then launched WW.

Joined Citrix when WW revenue was ~$90M and left when revenue was ~$3.5B, playing a key role in the drive to $1B and in reaching new important milestones Until Jan 2000 was Regional Dir. Southern Europe & MEA, managing a team that included Sales (Channel & Direct), Marketing, System Engineering and Finance. Increased the team from 6 to 27 people and grew revenue 7x, to close FY99 at $20M p.a. From 2000 to 2009, was Director of Sales and Marketing operations EMEA, based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.

First man in Europe, I defined and implemented the channel sales strategy for EMEA. Identified, recruited and drove performance of distributors in nine countries in Europe and managed all aspects of this Distributor network, from strategic direction, to sales support, to field co-sales.

AT&T acquired NCR and established itself as a player in the PC market through the adoption of a channel sales model. All operations were discontinued in Q1FY96. Was hired to recruit a channel structure in EMEA, which at the end of operations was ahead of schedule to meet a $650M turnover in FY95, from negligible figures in FY94, and was projecting $1.1B for FY96, before company divested from the PC business.

As Channel Development Manager for Europe, I worked very closely with the five Business Units in STE (part of Sun Microsystems), to revise the existing channel structures and define and implement a new and more successful strategy. Led the effort in Europe to transition all the channels, formerly acquiring product through Sun Microsystems, to a direct contractual relationship. This effort resulted in the recruitment of some of the major European channel partners for the company.