OneLogin Snags Ex-Juniper Channel Chief Hurley To Lead Partners

OneLogin has tapped former Juniper channel chief Matt Hurley to work more closely with independent software vendors and distributors and build out the cybersecurity company's presence internationally.

The San Francisco-based unified access management vendor praised Hurley's experience as a go-to-market leader at some of the IT industry's most marquee brands. Hurley most recently spent six years leading Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Juniper Networks' brand, field marketing and channel program teams, which included a redesign of the company's channel program in 2015 to address all business segments.

’Our channel partners are incredibly important to OneLogin," Brad Brooks, CEO of OneLogin, said in a statement. ’We’re delighted to have Matt bring his expertise to our executive team during this momentous stage of growth.’

[RELATED: Juniper Networks Will Sell Aerohive Wi-Fi Products In New Sales Pact]

Hurley – who started July 16 as OneLogin's vice president of global channels, strategic alliances and professional services – praised OneLogin for being at the forefront of product offerings in the unified access management category, and said they are uniquely positioned to expand rapidly.

The company's Access offering allows companies of any size to manage access for on-premise and cloud-based applications with a single Identity-as-a-Service tool.

"I can definitely feel the energy level here," Hurley told CRN. "A lot of that is driven by the space we're in … [and having] so much opportunity in front of you."

Hurley said OneLogin has the opportunity to have conversations with some of its key ISVs and potentially partner a bit better with them. The company plans to figure out which ISVs it should maintain the status quo with, which it should partner with more, and where it might be possible for OneLogin to wrap its ISV motion around its VAR motion.

OneLogin doesn't use distribution in North America, Hurley said, instead working directly with all of its solution provider partners in the region. Going forward, though, Hurley said OneLogin wants to add some distribution partners to broaden its reach in North America, with the company only managing its most strategic partners directly.

Unified access management is exploding in the Americas today, Hurley said, but is just beginning to have a massive uptick in places like India and Australia. Although the majority of OneLogin's customer base is in North America today, the company is making a concerted effort to growth in the EMEA region – particularly countries like Germany and France – as well as the Asia-Pacific region.

Emerging markets often offer an easier growth path thanks to their heavy adoption of SaaS apps, Hurley said, while larger companies in more developed markets tend to have a lot of on-premise infrastructure.

"I wanted to take on a growth opportunity," Hurley said.

Juniper does not intend to replace Hurley, a spokesman said in a statement to CRN. Hurley's responsibilities will be shared, the spokesman said, by "other stakeholders who have been part of the brand, demand generation and event process."

Brian Rosenberg, who became Juniper channel chief about a year-and-a-half ago, will continue to drive channel strategy, while Helda Lopes runs the day-to-day operations of the vendor's partner program. Lopes had been working closely with Hurley on Juniper brand initiatives and demand generation.

From January 2015 to October 2017, Hurley led Juniper's 140-person, $170 million global channels organization, according to LinkedIn. Since then, Hurley has spent the past 10 months spearheading Juniper's global brand and field marketing team.

Hurley's is the second recent departure from Juniper's channel operation. Derek Maggiacomo, former director of U.S. partner sales at Juniper, left earlier this month to take a position as vice president of U.S. sales East at Milpitas, Calif.-based security vendor SonicWall.

Dom Grillo, vice president of Atrion Communications, a Branchburg, N.J., a solution provider that works with Juniper, said Hurley's departure is likely simply part of the regular course of business. Grillo said that Atrion's Juniper sales have fallen slightly.

"Our numbers with Juniper have dropped a bit from their peak, but we're hopeful that will change in a good way with some opportunities we're working on," Grillo said.

Juniper's security business tends to be overshadowed by its traditional strengths in routing and switching, according to Grillo.

"On switching, routing and automation, Juniper does great, but unfortunately most customers – and Gartner – don't see them as a leader in security technology, which limits their growth in that portion of their portfolio."

Prior to joining Juniper, Hurley spent six years at Montreal-based communications goliath Bell, working his way up to senior vice president of professional services and advanced services solution delivery. Before that, Hurley was at Palo Alto, Calif.-based Sun Microsystems for more than three years, culminating in a stint as senior director of customer ready systems.

OneLogin was founded in 2009 and employs 201 people, according to LinkedIn. The company has raised $75.2 million in six funding rounds, capped off last month by a $22.5 million Series C investment round led by existing investors including Cambridge, Mass.-based venture capital firm Charles River Ventures.