Mark Draper steps down as Cato Networks’ VP of EMEA channel

The exec leaves the company after nearly seven years

Mark Draper, VP of EMEA channel at Cato Networks, has announced that he will be departing from the company.

He shared the news in a LinkedIn post.

“After almost seven years, this week marks the end of my chapter at Cato Networks,” he wrote.

“As one of the first hires in Europe, building and leading the EMEA channel organisation during a period of exponential growth has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career.

“Watching this company scale, innovate and continually raise the bar has been inspiring, and I’m pleased to have played a small part in that story.”

Draper first took on the role of VP of EMEA channel in early 2023 after nearly four years as the company’s channel director for the region.

The exec previously worked across several tech companies including Acal IT, Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, FireEye and Gigamon.

His departure comes as the vendor has rejigged its leadership team since the start of last year.

Following the retirement of its global channel chief Frank Rauch, Cato hired Karl Soderlund in February 2025 to lead its partner strategy.

Other leadership changes that year included the appointment of Nicolas Warnier as VP of sales, EMEA and Marcus Guerriero as Americas VP of sales.

Jaime Romero was named as CMO two months ago.

The organisation also launched a refreshed channel track in May.

The updated scheme, which introduced ‘Starter’ and ‘Advanced’ tiers, reportedly received a strong reception in EMEA, particularly among service providers, said Soderlund in a recent interview with CRN.

The vendor works with around 1,000 firms, including roughly 300 in EMEA and 75 in the UK.

The country ranks third to fourth in terms of cloud adoption, explained Soderlund.

Cato has also doubled down on its EMEA operations with the launch of a research and development centre in Prague in May.

Following these changes, the organisation’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) surpassed $350m (£260.65m) in FY25, a 43 per cent year-on-year jump from 2024.