Kaspersky’s New Channel Chief and How Barrett’s Privateers Relates to IT Security

By: Jeff Jedras, IT World Canada

The major news out of Kaspersky Lab’s North American partner conference this week was the long-awaited launch of its managed service provider program, but the security vendor also introduced its new North American channel chief and provided an update on emerging security threats.

Update on the health of the business
Kaspersky Lab’s North American president, Steve Orenberg, told partners that business continues to be strong and Kaspersky remains ahead of its partners in annual growth.

Quoting numbers from Gartner, in North America on the B2B side Kaspersky grew at 28 per cent, compared to an overall market decline of nine per cent. On the B2C side, Kaspersky grew at 25 per cent.

Orenberg also introduced three new members of Kaspersky’s North American leadership team, many of them with solid channel pedigrees. Jean Lozano, a former head of field and channel marketing for Trend Micro, has joined Kaspersky as vice-president of B2B marketing. Chris Doggett, who helped build the channel organization for Sophos, is now vice-president of channel sales. And Chris Gaebler, formerly of Accenture and Sony, is now vice-president of B2C marketing with responsibility for driving the customer experience.