Sophos snags former EMC channel sales guru to lead APJ growth

Sophos has appointed a former EMC channel chief to help lead business growth in Asia Pacific and Japan. Joergen Jakobsen (JJ) will now work with Sophos as regional vice president for Asia-Pacific and Japan, and will based out of the company's Singapore office.

Jakobsen will be the most senior sales and channel executive for the region, and will report directly to the company's senior vice president of global sales, Michael Valentine.

"I am very pleased to welcome JJ to the Sophos senior sales and channel management team. JJ has an impressive track record for developing and driving programs to support partners as they address the highly competitive and dynamic market in APJ. Sophos has continued to grow faster than the market in both endpoint and network security, and we continue to innovate and deliver next-generation protection to customers worldwide. JJ is a great addition to our team," Valentine says.

Jakobsen previously worked at EMC as vice president and general manager of EMC channel sales in APJ. He has been behind the EMC Business Partner Program in the region. He has also worked for Hewlett Packard as vice president and general manager of the Solution Partner Organization for APJ.

Jakobsen says he is excited to be part of Sophos's portfolio of IT security products and its partner commitment.

Valentine says that Sophos is a channel-first and channel-only security company, with huge potential in the APJ region, and Jakobsen agrees.

"Sophos is a success story that is well-positioned to take advantage of a huge opportunity. Organisations across APJ are looking for easy-touse solutions that can protect them against the growing volume of sophisticated and persistent threats. I look forward to supporting our partners as they help businesses address the challenges of comprehensive IT protection today," Jakobsen concludes.