Sophos announced it has named Chris Bell as senior vice president of global channel, alliances and corporate development, where he will lead the evolution of Sophos’ global channel strategy. This key appointment reinforces Sophos’ channel-first commitment to deliver a world-class partner experience.
Bell joined Sophos following its acquisition of Secureworks, where he served as chief strategy officer, responsible for long-term vision, strategic partnerships, corporate development and strategy. Building on his career of more than two decades working in the technology industry, including nearly a decade in cybersecurity and channel; Bell’s leadership will focus on developing and executing a channel strategy that prioritises expanding reach, empowering partners and driving growth. Key priorities for Bell at Sophos will include:
- Enhancing Sophos partner experience to make it seamless for partners to do business with Sophos at high velocity, while streamlining operations.
- Continued innovation for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) with Sophos’ industry-leading cybersecurity platform, enabling superior cybersecurity outcomes for customers, enhancing operational efficiency for security analysts, and boosting profitability for partners.
- Fueling partner growth with service delivery competencies,expanded partner enablement programmes including persona-based training and fast-track training to expand partners cybersecurity expertise.
- Increasing Sophos’ market reach by leveraging the unified portfolio of Sophos and Secureworks to deliver best-in-class security technologies and services, empowering partners to enhance cybersecurity and strengthen the security posture of organisations, from commercial to enterprise.
- Expanding routes to Market by bolstering Sophos’ presence across technology alliances, marketplaces and the cyber insurance ecosystem. Sophos will also continue to maintain its focus across resellers, service providers, and OEM channels.
“Partners need adaptable strategies that prioritise flexibility to stay ahead of the increasingly complex threat landscape,” said Bell. “Unifying Sophos’ and Secureworks’ portfolios presents a unique opportunity to accelerate a future-ready channel programme that arms partners with the technology, services, insights, and enablement needed to protect customers and fuel long-term growth.”
A core piece of Sophos’ channel strategy is to better equip partners in addressing the evolving security challenges faced by businesses of all sizes. By aligning more closely with partner needs and prioritising an open ecosystem, Sophos aims to create a stronger partner network that supports customers from strategy to technology and deployment.
“Evolving our channel business to consistently deliver excellent customer outcomes is at the core of our partner go-to-market approach,” said Torjus Gylstorff, chief revenue officer at Sophos. “We are thrilled to have Chris’ strategic vision and deep channel and cybersecurity expertise to shape Sophos’ channel strategy and build programmes to empower partners to scale their security business.”
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