Cisco Appoints Splunk’s Gary Steele to Lead Go to Markets, Partnerships

Steele will replace channel veteran Jeff Sharritts, lead the integration of Splunk’s partners into the Cisco program, and help transform Cisco’s positioning as a software and service vendor.
By Larry Walsh

Cisco initiated a change of the guard in its global partner leadership, announcing the appointment of former Splunk CEO Gary Steele to replace longtime channel chief Jeff Sharritts. The company continues its transition from a legacy networking hardware vendor to a multifaceted software and service company.

Steele, who joined Cisco following the closing of the $28 billion acquisition of Splunk, will now serve as the president of go-to-markets and partnerships. Sharritts, a 20-year Cisco veteran, is set to depart the company in July.

Cisco says Steele will apply his wealth of experience from his previous roles as CEO at Splunk and Proofpoint to the partner leadership role. Unde...