Ex-Cisco director pops up at Purple
New vice president EMEA sales will focus on becoming key WiFi analytics partner in retail and transportation
Richard Roberts has been appointed vice president EMEA sales at Purple, and has set his sights on heavy partner recruitment across Europe, with the UK as its "bedrock".
The Manchester-based vendor specialises in WiFi, marketing and location analytics and operates in Europe, APAC and the Americas.
Roberts joins from Cisco, where he worked for 10 years, most recently as managing director for partner and communication sales, UK and Ireland.
"I'm getting to the point where if I don't do this kind of role now, I never will. I'm 51 and I really have a passion to do something transformational. Although I loved my time at Cisco, and I did have a phenomenal time, there is something so special about being part of a small team, where everyone matters. Every role counts. You have to muck in to get everything done. I've seen lots of different business models but these guys really captured my imagination," he said.
"The ideas they have about how to engage with customers - how to transform their business - by bringing the web environment into the physical world, I found really interesting. I got really interested then and have been tracking them for the last three years. If you get the right people together, you have the right technology, and the market is ready for it, anything is possible. I got that feeling from Purple."
Roberts will be responsible for engagement with the channel, and he is looking to recruit more partners across Europe in the next year.
"We are looking to build out in Europe," he explained. "We have been and continue to recruit heavily in Europe because of the opportunities we have been seeing in many of the countries. The UK has been the bedrock of the business. There is a huge amount of opportunity in EMEA that we are simply not touching yet. So we will be looking for the right kind of partners and the right kind of people. We want to be the market leader that we are, just tenfold bigger. We want partners with real ambition. We also want partners to challenge us, to keep us on our toes and make sure we are continuing to stay ahead in terms of the partnering offer."
While he remained tight-lipped on its growth plans, Roberts did say that as a minimum the vendor is looking to double its revenues year on year.
"Any company of this size has to have ambitious growth aspirations; doubling year on year is a minimum. But more important I think is capturing the right customers; those that lead markets. We are looking at trying to be the most influential partner for WiFi analytics for any customer in retail, transportation, venues etc. That is really important because that will trickle down through the verticals, and it will also, with those customers on board, allow us to evolve even quicker, and take our solution to the next stage," he added.
Anton Murphy, business development manager at Redcentric, a Purple VAR, said Robert's appointment shows Purple's commitment to its partners, and he has recently seen an added focus from the vendor on its channel.
He said: "It is a partnership that works really well for us. It is a very rounded proposition for us and we are very excited about it. Richard's appointment is a very clear intent of how they see the business growing.
"When they first started the business they established customer footprints direct. They have pretty much stopped all of that, and they have swung right over to supporting selected partners. We have noticed a collaborate effort to position us with customers and help position our wider offering. A significant sector is healthcare for us, and they have begun recently to invest in senior sales capacity for the sectors that are important for their partners. That is good soli investment that is mindful of the business that their partner community has."