CRN Names Eight Leaders From Sophos as 2017 Women

BURLINGTON, MA--(Marketwired - Jun 8, 2017) - Sophos ( LSE : SOPH ), a global leader in network and endpoint security , announced today that CRN ®, a brand of The Channel Company , has named eight women from Sophos' channel and marketing teams to its prestigious 2017 Women of the Channel list. The annual list includes women from the IT channel, representing vendors, distributors, solution providers and other organizations that figure prominently in the channel ecosystem. Each is recognized for her outstanding leadership, vision and unique role in driving channel growth and innovation.

Sophos is the only vendor with a sole business focus on IT security to have eight women from three regions from around the world recognized as Women of the Channel, underscoring the company's global channel strength and commitment to be "channel best."

The following women from Sophos were selected by the editors of CRN due to their professional accomplishments, demonstrated expertise and ongoing dedication to the IT channel:

• Kendra Krause, vice president, global channels
• Justine Lewis, vice president, worldwide field and channel marketing
• Erin Malone, vice president, North America channel sales
• Caralyn Stern, senior marketing director, global channel and Americas
• Nicki Dewhurst, marketing director, Asia Pacific and Japan
• Regina Vignone, director of channel sales, North America, East
• Melissa Lyons, global channel programs manager
• Maria Claudia Ardila, Latin America channel program manager

CRN has also included Kendra Krause and Erin Malone on its Power 100 list, which recognizes women leaders whose vision and influence are key drivers of their companies' success. In addition, Melissa Lyons has been named in CRN's Channel Up-And-Comers list, a special recognition identifying rising stars whose initiative and creative thinking are helping to shape the future of the channel.

"Sophos is 100 percent focused on the channel and having eight of our leaders from across sales and marketing included in CRN's prestigious list serves as a testament to our global commitment and the success of our programs," said Mike Valentine, senior vice president of worldwide sales for Sophos. "With outstanding leadership and vision, each of these women is creating and driving programs that enable our partners to maximize opportunities and grow their business, with innovative, next-generation security products like Sophos Intercept X and protect customers against ransomware, advanced exploits and other damaging cyber-threats. This accolade, coupled with Sophos' recent 5-star rating in CRN's 2017 Partner Program Guide , demonstrates our unwavering dedication to a 'channel-first, channel-only' business model."

In its most recent earnings announcement for the 12 months ended March 31, 2017, Sophos posted strong performance with total reported billings growth of more than 18 percent. Sophos now has approximately 30,000 registered channel partners across the globe, with more than 6,000 blue chip partners transacting in the last six months.

The CRN 2017 Women of the Channel recognition comes on the heels of Sophos' annual global Partner Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, Lisbon, Portugal, and Bangkok, Thailand. At the conference, Sophos unveiled new updates to its partner enablement program and discussed the opportunities for partners to grow their business with the Sophos Central security management platform which now has more than 45,000 customers.

"These extraordinary executives support every aspect of the channel ecosystem, from technical innovation to marketing to business development, working tirelessly to keep the channel moving into the future," said Robert Faletra, CEO of The Channel Company. "They are creating and elevating channel partner programs, developing fresh go-to-market strategies, strengthening the channel's network of partnerships and building creative new IT solutions, among many other contributions. We congratulate all the 2017 Women of the Channel on their stellar accomplishments and look forward to their future success."

The 2017 Women of the Channel list is featured in the June issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.CRN.com/wotc .

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About Sophos: More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos' complete security solutions as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Simple to deploy, manage and use, Sophos' award-winning encryption, endpoint security, Web, email, mobile and network security solutions are backed by SophosLabs -- a global network of threat intelligence centers. Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, UK, and is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol "SOPH." More information is available at www.sophos.com .

About the Channel Company The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelco.com

©2017. The Channel Company, LLC. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.