Websense names John Starr as new Channel VP

Websense has announced that John Starr has taken the role of Vice-President, Global Sales Channels and Professional Services at Websense and will be steering the company’s strategic global channel development and presence.

John Starr joined Websense in January of 2014 with more than 15 years of experience driving profitable growth in the IT industry. Before joining Websense, John held the role of director of strategic programs at Vista Equity Partners and spent seven years with IBM’s strategy practice.

During his tenure at IBM, he led the reorganization of the US and Canadian consulting businesses, the redesign of their global sales methodology and worked to optimize the company’s partner strategy in the hardware space.

"John has already been working with the Websense executive team on a number of transformational efforts, including the development of the Websense channel strategy and the creation of the company’s Professional Services organization,” said John McCormack, CEO, Websense. “He is the perfect candidate to drive our efforts with partners to new heights and help them take advantage of the newly released APX 8.0 platform. The channel is and continues to be an important part of our overall business strategy. With John at the helm, I look forward to helping our valued partners drive additional revenue."

"We have a very large channel population in the U.S. and around the world. I look forward to enhancing our partner ecosystem across verticals and evolving our strategy with the best interests of our partner community in mind,” said John Starr, Vice-President, Global Sales Channels and Professional Services, Websense. “As the head of channel sales and professional services, I will ensure that our partner community has a prominent voice within Websense.  When we make enhancements to our go-to-market, it will be based on mutual goals and a win-win strategy."