Ross Pellizzari’s departure as Cisco Canada’s channel chief is really sad news for me personally. I also believe it will be sad news for the IT industry in Canada.
Ross Pellizzari’s departure as Cisco Canada’s channel chief is really sad news for me personally. I also believe it will be sad news for the IT industry in Canada.
According to Cisco Canada, Pellizzari left the Canadian subsidiary to pursue other business interests. The team at CDN tried to contact Ross without any luck. I understand Cisco’s positioning here very well. Pellizzari was well liked in the industry and his privacy and legacy has to be respected.
I’m sure the reasons for the departure will eventually come out. Can Pellizzari, who had a larger than life personality, be replaced at Cisco Canada? I think so, however his style and passion will be very hard for his successor to imitate.
Pellizzari had the passion you need to be successful in this job. A channel chief has to have passion so they can help channel partners, and the company they work for, achieve success.
He was one of a handful of the channel chiefs I’ve gotten the pleasure to know that could align vendor objectives and priorities with those of the channel, and that’s no easy task.
Indeed,it’s a difficult job because to be a great channel chief you have to, in my view, be a channel advocate first. Sometimes the needs of the channel are not in sync with those of the vendor you work for. Pellizzari managed to maintain that balance and delivered results for both Cisco Canada and its solution provider community.
Being a channel chief is also a time-consuming job, which can leads to burn out. Pellizzari dealt with those issues as well. You don’t see too many channel chiefs holding the same job at the same company for 20 years.
Let’s not forget that Pellizzari took over for Steve Simmons, who was widely considered to be an up-and-coming channel star. That was a hard act to follow, but Ross made the transition seamless for Cisco Canada and its partner base. The new person will have big shoes to fill.
Pellizzari has been a great friend to Computer Dealer News. He was always available for me and the team. He stepped up and gave us the support we needed for the Channel Elite Awards and the Top 100 Solution Provider events, for example.
But the thing that I will miss the most is that Ross made it a fun experience for everyone he dealt with. Business is business and everyone understands that. However, when someone can turn business tasks into fun it makes that person special. And Ross Pellizzari is special.
I wish him all the best.
