Rubrik poaches new director of alliances for EMEA from Zscaler

Sean Sullivan will lead Rubrik’s development of sales strategy and support for service providers in EMEA

Zero-trust security vendor Rubrik has appointed Sean Sullivan as director of alliances for EMEA.

The former director of EMEA channel sales at Zscaler joins the company in a specially created role to develop Rubrik's partnership capabilities, specifically supporting major telecoms and internet service providers with the security services they need to help customers ensure cyber resilience.

Sullivan has over 25 years of experience within technology and cybersecurity sales. Having held senior positions across Microsoft, Netscape, Dell EMC and Good Technology, he has been responsible for building strong international connections with leading businesses.

In his most recent role at Zscaler, Sullivan led the development of the company's relationships with telecom clients, large and small.

"I've seen the service provider industry transform across my career," said Sullivan.

"Most businesses have changed their solutions approach: they now look for one provider to deliver internet connectivity, storage and security, rather than pick and mix different solutions from different vendors.

"For Rubrik, this presents a real opportunity to offer service providers new and better services that will attract more customers.

"Whether it's reselling Rubrik licences as optional extras or including Rubrik security as a managed service to customers, I'm excited to see how we can support our customers and partners more than ever."

Sullivan's appointment is the latest in the EMEA following the announcement of Richard Cassidy as field CISO earlier this month.

Speaking about the appointment, Ghazal Asif, VP for global partners and alliances at Rubrik said: "Security is a constantly evolving industry, which is why it's so important to have a depth of knowledge, talent and experience within a business.

"That's why I'm very happy to welcome Sean to our team. His background working with some of the tech world's major players, coupled with his attitude and approach makes him an ideal person to lead our efforts with service providers."

Rubrik recently revealed a deepened collaboration with Microsoft to use AI to tackle cybersecurity.

The integration will empower security and IT teams to streamline incident creation and accelerate cyber recovery.