Former Palo Alto, Sumo Logic Execs join amid explosive growth and surging demand for end-to-end cloud native security solutions
Aqua Security, the pure-play cloud native security leader, announced the expansion of its executive team to include seasoned channel and sales leaders Jeannette Lee Heung, Senior Director, Global Channels and Alliances; Christopher Gaba, Vice President of Sales, East; and Jeffrey Webb, Vice President of Sales, West.
“Adding stellar leadership and substantial market expertise will fast track our global channel growth and enable us to build a more robust sales organization throughout North America.”
Their collective experience will help Aqua meet the surging demand for end-to-end cloud native security solutions. The company closed 2021 with high double-digit revenue, adding nearly 200 customers and now supporting 25 of the Fortune 100.
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“There is massive demand—both direct and through partners—for Aqua’s full lifecycle approach to cloud native security, and our sales organization is growing strategically to meet the needs of customers and prospects,” said Chris Smith, Chief Revenue Officer, Aqua. “Adding stellar leadership and substantial market expertise will fast track our global channel growth and enable us to build a more robust sales organization throughout North America.”
Global Channel Growth and Investment
In 2021, the aqualink Partner Program experienced its most significant year of growth, contributing to nearly 85% of all company deals. Aqua’s appointment of Lee Heung as senior director of global channels and alliances will set the stage for even greater channel investment and momentum in 2022.
With 25 years of experience — 15 of those years in the channel — working in start-ups, VARs, and at some of Canada’s largest partners, Lee Heung joins Aqua from Palo Alto Networks, where initially led the Canadian Channel Organization and was promoted to develop and lead the Prisma Cloud Global Ecosystems strategy. Having also developed a channel at NetApp, she understands the needs of regional, national, and global partners and how to strengthen channel programs to address those needs. She has a track record of driving business growth, developing strategic relationships, and bringing security offerings to new customers through partners.
In her new role at Aqua, Lee Heung plans to capitalize on the program’s strong momentum to forge new global alliances and build a more robust partner program worldwide. Initial goals include expanding the channel team, bolstering partner education and training, and working with partners to deliver services around Aqua technology to offer new paths to revenue.
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North America Sales Expansion
Aqua is also expanding its sales leadership with two industry veterans. Gaba was most recently Vice President of Sales, Americas, for the Security Business Unit at Sumo Logic (recently acquired by JASK). He has more than 20 years of experience in business development, specializing in enterprise security sales, with previous roles at known industry leaders, such as Tanium, McAfee and Sophos.
With nearly 25 years of experience in business development, Webb comes to Aqua with deep cloud expertise and an understanding of automation and infrastructure management. He most recently led west coast sales at Pensando and previously served Vice President of Sales at SecurityScorecard and CliQr (acquired by Cisco CloudCenter).
At Aqua, Gaba and Webb will be responsible for expanding the east and west coast sales divisions, respectively, as well as identifying strategic business opportunities and developing profitable partnerships to foster long term company growth.
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