WekaIO Executive Named One of CRN’s People You Should Know

By AIT News Desk On Sep 29, 2020

Andrew Perry recognized by CRN for his outstanding contribution to the IT channel

WekaIO (Weka), the innovation leader in high-performance, scalable file storage for data-intensive applications, is pleased to announce that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has recognized Andrew Perry, vice president of sales, as one of the IT channel’s 100 People You Don’t Know But Should for 2020. This annual list pays tribute to the below-the-radar best and brightest who power the channel every day.

Based on feedback from leading solution providers and industry executives, the CRN editorial team uses the 100 People You Don’t Know But Should list to draw attention to those outstanding channel players who may not be household names but still work tirelessly to keep their partners thriving and the IT channel growing.

Since starting at Weka, Perry has led and announced several marquis OEM alliance partner agreements, including Penguin Computing, Dell, Lenovo, Cisco, and most recently Hitachi Vantara. He supports a channels-centric sales model that has helped to propel the company’s meteoric growth. In addition to helping steer the company’s strategic direction as a member of the leadership team, he is also responsible for identifying and developing new business relationships with OEM partners in every region. Perry leverages more than 25 years of experience and technology relationships, having spent his career leading global sales and business development teams at Maxta, Springpath (acquired by Cisco), Violin Memory, GridIron (acquired by Violin Memory), Pano Logic, Timestock (acquired by CA), Peribit (acquired by Juniper Networks), and INS (acquired by Lucent Technologies). He holds a B.A. degree in Economics from Syracuse University.

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In response to receiving this honor, Perry said, “This recognition from CRN is validation for Weka’s commitment to a channels-first strategy and the dedication from myself and the other channel leadership within the organization to scale the organization through the partner ecosystem. Weka’s unprecedented growth is due in large part to our phenomenal partner program, the Weka Innovation Network (WIN), a global partner program, that enables the delivery of our innovative technology to customers. WekaIO has established itself as an enabler of digital transformation and the accelerated datacenter, used by enterprise organizations across industries and supporting high-performance computing (HPC), AI/ML, and high-performance data analytics (HPDA) workloads. Participating in WIN provides access to the Weka parallel file system (WekaFS™) and opens up new lines of revenue for partners looking to grow their businesses in strong growth markets and by providing storage solutions for these emerging workloads.”

“Managing a successful channel partner program today calls for a small army of people, but only a few Channel Chiefs tend to enjoy widespread recognition,” said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company. “With the 100 People You Don’t Know But Should, we are delighted to shine a spotlight on an exceptional group of unsung team members, giving them some of the acclaim they deserve for their indispensable contributions to channel success.”

“We are pleased that CRN has recognized Andrew Perry, as he has been integral to the Penguin Computing and Weka collaboration,” said Matt Jacobs, chief strategy officer at Penguin Computing, a WIN Innovation partner. “Together, we deliver a differentiated solution for HPC and AI workloads, combining the high performance of WekaFS with the density of Penguin Computing’s workload optimized architectures.”