With over 20 years of experience within Sungard AS building channel programmes, Falcone joins the EMEA team having previously held the position of VP of Strategic Alliances in US. Prior to rejoining the Sungard AS Global Channels team, Falcone was with Dimension Data for over 18 months where she worked as Global Director for the System Integration Service Unit, holding responsibility for the creation, management and execution of GTM, programs and regional enablement across five geographic regions. Reporting into Carmen Sorice, SVP, Global Channel Sales & Programs, Falcone will head up a team to help deliver on Sungard AS’ channel goals.
As a driving force in the success of Sungard AS’ US Channel Partner Program, Falcone has extensive experience in the management and development of partner strategies, and has previously been named as one of CRN's 100 most influential women in the channel. Prior to her post in EMEA, she spent 19 years at Sungard AS and was responsible for the global management of Cisco and NetApp Alliances as well as National Partners.
Over the next year, Falcone will be focused on raising awareness within the EMEA region’s channel community as well as expanding the number of partners involved by drawing on her experience and rich network of contacts within the industry. With a heritage in managing complex hybrid IT environment, Sungard AS will be well placed to provide potential partners with a wide-ranging portfolio of availability services that will allow them to deliver the business outcomes their customers are now demanding.
First launched in 2009, the US Channel Partner Program achieved consecutive year on year double digit growth and has been recognised with multiple partner and industry awards. Following this success, Sungard AS announced in May that it would be expanding the Program across the UK, Ireland, France, Belgium, Luxemburg and Sweden.
Sungard AS’ flexible Channel Partner Program involves working with partners to provide complete solutions to joint customers, meeting their evolving needs for ‘as-a-service’ delivery models as they implement their evolving digital strategies.
The Program is unique in pairing Sungard AS’ heritage expertise of business continuity and disaster recovery, providing a complex solution with availability at the front of mind.
Commenting on the appointment, Carmen Sorice, SVP, Global Channel Sales and Programs at Sungard Availability Services said: “We are delighted to welcome Karen Falcone back to the Sungard AS team. Her experience speaks for itself and we are confident that her vision of offering a multifaceted solution to partners and customers combined with her extensive experience of developing a successful channel offering will allow her to make waves across EMEA.”
Falcone added: “I’m really excited to be joining the EMEA team at such a key time in Sungard AS’ channel expansion. Sungard AS has seen significant success in this area since introducing the Program in the US in 2009. Companies are looking for a partner who can design, build, manage and operate complex IT environments and keep them available. Our offering includes everything: from colocation to cloud recovery, managed application solutions, and a host of hybrid IT offerings through to full infrastructure management for all environments. We’re in an enviable position to offer our partners market leading solutions, making this an exciting time to lead the team.”
