SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 23, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — 8×8, Inc. (Nasdaq:EGHT), provider of innovative cloud communications and computing solutions, today announced that Don Trimble, vice president of channel development, and Matt Hutchinson, director of channel marketing, have been recognized as two of CRN Magazine’s 2012 Channel Chiefs. This prestigious list of the most influential and powerful leaders in the IT channel recognizes those executives directly responsible for driving channel sales and growth within their organization, while evangelizing and defending the importance of the channel throughout the entire IT Industry.
“Matt and I are honored to receive this recognition from CRN for the cloud-centric channel initiative 8×8 began championing in 2011,” said Trimble. “We’d like to see resellers and VARs embrace the shift that’s occurring from premises-based systems to SaaS solutions and believe the program 8×8 has introduced offers the most compelling and lucrative path to success with this recurring revenue-based business model. We look forward to working closely with UBM in 2012 and beyond to broaden channel awareness and appreciation for this exciting opportunity.”
Don Trimble joined 8×8 in February 2011 with more than 25 years of sales and channel experience for some of the largest IT companies in the world, including Cisco, Hewlett Packard, Polycom and 3Com. Matt Hutchinson, who joined 8×8 in October 2011, has over 20 years of IT channel sales and marketing experience with companies like Logitech, Hewlett Packard, Plantronics, Nortel and Lucent. While at 8×8, Trimble and Hutchinson have been focused on educating partners about the advantages and cost savings of cloud-based solutions from an end user perspective and the opportunities for adding ongoing incremental revenue by reselling these offerings.
“The 2012 Channel Chiefs list recognizes vendor executives dedicated to driving channel programs in the IT marketplace,” said Kelley Damore, VP, Editorial Director, UBM Channel. “Our annual Channel Chiefs issue is a must-read for IT solution providers evaluating new vendors or looking to expand solution offerings. These are the people, the products and the programs that any savvy solution provider needs to know. We congratulate this year’s Channel Chiefs for their stellar record of business innovation and applaud them for their continued dedication to the partner community.”
For the tenth consecutive year, Channel Chiefs were selected by the CRN editorial team based on channel experience, program innovations, channel-driven revenue, and public support for the importance of IT channel sales.
The 2012 Channel Chiefs list is featured in the February issue of CRN Magazine and can be available online at www.crn.com.
