There’s a new boss for the small and medium-sized business (SMB) segment in North America for Russian security vendor Kaspersky Lab.
Kaspersky said Wednesday that it has appointed John Salamone as its new vice-president of SMB sales for Kaspersky Lab North America. In that role, he’ll have responsibility for overseeing and directing Kaspersky’s SMB business, including managing all new sales activity to SMBs, government customer and non-profits, and nurturing the existing customer base.
Salamone brings over 20 years of sales management experience in the software industry to Kaspersky. Most recently he was voce-president of sales at Brainshark, leading a team of national account managers focused on new business development. He has held positions involving channel, inside and direct field sales with Mentor Graphics, EMA Design Automation, Innoveda and PADS Software.
“John is a highly motivated, solutions-driven sales management professional. His experience in establishing and managing inside, direct and indirect sales teams focused on new customer acquisition is invaluable for Kaspersky Lab as we continue to take our SMB sales segment to the next level,” said Chris Doggett, senior vice-president of corporate sales for Kaspersky Lab North America, in a statement. “With a track record that includes numerous examples of accelerated revenues and increases in sales productivity, along with proven team leadership, John is a valuable addition to Kaspersky Lab’s Corporate Sales Team.”
He’ll have some tough numbers to beat. Kaspersky reported an overall sales increases of 21 per cent in 2013, and a doubling of new business growth rates. Sales to mid-market customers grew by more than 41 per cent, and sales to existing customers increased in value by an average of 20 per cent. On the channel side, deal registration was up by 25 per cent and 800 new partners were recruited.
