Security Staff Acquisition & Development, Content, Sales and marketing

Datto Hires Sophos, Akamai Veterans for Global Sales Expansion

Share
Credit: Datto
David Nathans, CISO at large U.S. defense contractor
James Vyvyan, VP of EMEA sales, Datto

Datto has hired former Akamai and Sophos executives to accelerate its MSP-focused technology sales across the APAC (Asia Pacific) and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) regions.

The key sales hires include:

  • APAC: Akamai veteran Danny Mesrop as VP of sales, APAC. Mesrop will relocate from Singapore to the Datto office in Sydney, Australia. Also, Datto has promoted Tom Fernandez to regional sales manager, Asia. Fernandez has recently relocated to the Datto Singapore office.
  • EMEA: Sophos veteran James Vyvyan joins Datto as VP of sales, EMEA. Moreover, Sophos and Dell Technologies veteran Michael Gutsch joins Datto as regional sales manager, DACH (short for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland).

Datto Hires and Promotions: More Details

The hires appear to align with Datto's DNA. Indeed, multiple Datto executives previously worked at Akamai -- including CEO Tim Weller, Chief Revenue Officer Sanjay Singh, Chief Data Strategist Brett McLaughlin and VP Scott Landry.

Also, tapping the Sophos talent pool appears to make strategic sense. Sophos, now owned by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, has deep international roots and was one of the first cybersecurity companies to bet heavily on MSPs as channel partners.

In a prepared statement about the Datto hires and promotions, Singh said:

“Prioritizing word-class sales talent with experience in forging relationships across the globe is a top priority for Datto. Datto has been very clear in its commitment to helping global IT providers transform to the managed services model. Making real investments in regional leadership and resources is a core part of that promise. I’m very pleased to be able to welcome our new sales leaders as they drive our teams to support the accelerated growth of MSP partners in markets across the globe.”

Datto MSP Market Focus, Business Milestones

Datto develops IT automation, business management, networking and data protection solutions that MSPs consume and/or manage for small business customers.

The new hires surface roughly five weeks after Datto launched its IPO, and one week after the company disclosed Q3 2020 earnings results.

Datto is based in Connecticut but has had an international footprint for roughly a decade. Among the key moves: Acquiring Autotask in 2017. Autotask had localized its software for multiple international markets ahead of the deal.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.