Cloudera appoints Koen van Erp to lead EMEA alliances and channels

Cloudera announced the appointment of Koen van Erp to lead EMEA Alliances and Channels. Van Erp joins Cloudera with more than 15 years of experience building partner ecosystems and commercial teams across global technology companies and fast-growing start-ups. He spent 12 years at Google, where he scaled the EMEA partner sales organisation for Google Cloud Security to more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue. Most recently Van Erp served as COO of IronCloud, where he helped shape the company’s go-to-market model for its AI-driven Security Operations as a Service platform.

In his new role, Van Erp will support Cloudera’s EMEA sales organisation and lead the company’s channel strategy across the region. His appointment comes as Cloudera executes a fully ecosystem-led strategy globally, empowering partners as true multipliers, delivering enhanced customer value, and increasing market coverage. Van Erp will focus on regional system integrators, especially those with a strong emphasis on Sovereign Cloud requirements as part of its strategy to execute globally with regional precision to meet local market needs, particularly in EMEA. He will also deepen strategic growth partnerships with key alliances like AWS, Nvidia, Dell Technologies, AMD, and IBM.

“Strong ecosystems are not built by simply adding more partners,” said Koen van Erp, EMEA Alliances and Channels Leader at Cloudera. “They are built by focusing on the right relationships, understanding what partners need to grow, and creating the conditions for them to invest back into customers. We are handing our partners the keys to the most flexible architecture in the market. I look forward to supporting our partner ecosystem as they help customers turn the complexity of hybrid data and AI into a competitive advantage and realise the full value of Cloudera’s Data Anywhere, Cloud Anywhere, and AI Anywhere capabilities.”

The Cloudera Partner Network (CPN) is a vital part of the Cloudera ecosystem and is critical in its approach to investing and driving growth with channel partners, offering the necessary training, incentives, and tools to succeed. The program delivers an enhanced experience with a comprehensive partner portal, including expanded resources and financial benefits such as expanded development funding, incentive programs, and discounts. Through continuous improvements based on partner feedback, CPN also equips them to provide the local expertise required to address complex regulatory and Sovereign Cloud demands across the EMEA region.

“For a decade, the industry has been stalled by a ‘fragmentation tax’ that forces customers to choose between siloed public clouds or expensive on-premises hardware. As we move into an era of convergence and convenience, Cloudera is officially solving this challenge by delivering a unified platform,” said Michelle Hoover, SVP, Alliances and Channels, Cloudera.

“I’m excited to welcome Koen to Cloudera to help drive this vision across EMEA. Our partner-led motion is already delivering incredible value, with partner-sourced deals closing faster, achieving higher win rates, and driving larger expansion sizes. Koen’s experience building high-performing channel teams will be instrumental as we execute our strategic vision to make our world-class partner ecosystem the primary accelerator for Cloudera’s growth and customer success.”