Blancco Names Jim Elder VP for Partner Ecosystems

Data erasure and mobile lifecycle solutions company Blancco Technology Group has appointed former NetApp channel executive Jim Elder as the VP of Global Pathways. In addition to his five years leading the channel business at NetApp, Elder held sales leadership positions at SanDisk (acquired by Western Digital), Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, AMD, IBM, and Seagate, according to a statement from the company. 

Elder will lead Blancco’s global partner ecosystem and drive a channel-first strategy in alignment with the company’s objective of doubling enterprise business by 2025, according to the statement.

Blancco’s recently transformed partner program is designed to accelerate investment in partners who are aligned with the company’s vision and pursuing complementary go-to-market strategies, the company said. The program features a single-tier structure that focuses on four sales motions – sell, service, build, distribute – to provide a quicker onramp for companies across the channel partner ecosystem, including MSPs, solutions providers, global system integrators, distributors, resellers and OEMs.

Blancco aims to generate more than 70% of its enterprise deals through partners as it expands within the data lifecycle market. Partner benefits include deal registration across all partner types, structured incremental discounts, priority partner initiatives, and more. 

As the VP of Global Pathways, Elder will focus on building and expanding Blancco’s relationships with OEMs, GSIs, solution providers, and tech alliance partners in alignment with Blancco’s aggressive growth goals, according to the company. Prior to joining Blancco, Elder spent five years at NetApp, where he served as the Channel Chief for the Americas Partner Organization. Before NetApp, Elder held sales leadership positions at SanDisk (acquired by Western Digital), Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, AMD, IBM, and Seagate. 

Jim Elder Joins Blancco as VP of Global Pathways

“My philosophy on partnerships is that we must make it easy for our partners to do business with us. I’m delighted that Blancco’s leadership team shares this philosophy, having recently launched a simplified experience for partners in June,” said Elder. “Blancco has some incredible opportunities on the table right now – we are leaning into our OEM and global system integration partnerships, as well as our tech alliances, such as with ServiceNow, to increase our scale in the market. I couldn’t have joined at a more exciting time.”

“We are delighted to welcome Jim to lead our partner team and leverage his invaluable experience, which includes spearheading a multi-billion dollar channel business at NetApp and leadership positions at several technology giants, such as AMD, IBM and HPE,” said Jon Mellon, President of Global Sales, Marketing and Field Operations at Blancco. “He is an inspirational and seasoned sales and marketing leader who will add a wealth of knowledge to our already stellar business leadership team.”

To learn more about Blancco’s global partner program, please visit www.blancco.com/partners/blancco-global-partner-program/.