Lenovo Names Rob Cato As New Channel Chief

@RobCato, a @Lenovo veteran who has served as interim channel chief for the company's North America PC and smart devices business since late January, has been appointed permanently to the position, the company said. Cato had succeeded previous Lenovo channel chief @SammyKinlaw on an interim basis after Kinlaw departed to become vice president of worldwide channel and OEM sales at printer vendor Lexmark. [Related: Lenovo Channel Chief Sammy Kinlaw Is Stepping Down] Cato joined Lenovo in 2005 through its acquisition of IBM's PC business, and before that had worked at IBM since 1994, according to his LinkedIn profile. He had most recently been serving as executive director for public sector, workstation and OEM at Lenovo. "Over the many years spent with Lenovo and IBM in this industry, I have enjoyed creating meaningful connections and relationships with our partners to drive mutual growth and profit," Cato said in a statement. "I look forward to building upon that foundation." Matthew Zielinski, president of Lenovo's North America business, said that Cato has 25 years of sales experience across both commercial business and the channel. "Rob’s established relationships, passion and knowledge are ideal for the North America channel business," Zielinski said in a statement. Michael Goldstein, president and CEO of LAN Infotech, a Lenovo partner in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said in an email to CRN that Cato is a "great choice" for the channel chief position. "I love the idea of bringing someone that has been with Lenovo through the good and bad times," Goldstein said. "It looks like he has a lot of channel experience, which really sets them up for the future."

https://www.crn.com/news/mobility/300102496/lenovo-names-rob-cato-as-new-channel-chief.htm