CrowdStrike hires Blackberry vet as channel and distribution strategy lead

Lucy Evans joined the cybersecurity vendor in September

CrowdStrike has hired a new global lead of channel and distribution strategy, the company confirmed to CRN.

Lucy Evans joined the vendor in September, after an eight-year tenure with Blackberry, latterly as its global partner programme lead.

She joined Blackberry as a senior global alliances manager in 2010. Prior to this, Evans worked at vendor Avaya, heading up its distribution channel operations.

"Lucy Evans joined CrowdStrike in September of 2023 as senior program manager global channel and distribution strategy. We are thrilled to welcome Lucy into the CrowdStrike family. Lucy exemplifies the culture we have here and brings a breadth of knowledge with over 25 years in the IT industry. We are excited for her to help our partners and customers stop breaches," said Daniel Bernard, chief business officer at CrowdStrike.

The hire comes at a time of transformation for CrowdStrike, as the vendor hired a new VP of EMEA channels and alliances, John Taylor earlier this year.

In an interview with CRN shortly after his appointment, he commented on the vendor's push for partners to invest more in services.

"I want them to invest in services. A lot of our partners understand our product, understand who buys it, and understand where the differentiators are," Taylor said.

"But where we're trying to encourage our partners to go and invest is on the development of services around that because if they develop professional or managed or support-based services that they can take to market, then the journey with CrowdStrike is going to be that much more profitable for them.

More recently, the cybersecurity vendor launched Falcon Complete for Service Providers, a new programme for MSSPs, MSPs, system integrators and global SIs.

The programme is intended to help partners scale managed security services portfolios, close skills gaps, and augment internal teams.