Each year, CRN recognizes the top channel executives in the industry with their CRN Channel Chiefs list. The prestigious Channel Chiefs list identifies channel executives who consistently defend, promote and execute effective channel partner programs and strategies.

CRN Channel Chiefs are chosen by the CRN editorial staff and are considered the channel elite based on their track record of channel accomplishments, standing in the industry, dedication to the partner community and plans for driving future business innovation and channel growth.

This year, seven of our own Cisco executives have been recognized, which is a truly great honor. Of those seven, both Wendy Bahrand Rick Snyder were additionally named to the CRN "50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs."

As a company, we cannot thank these executives enough for the amazing work they do.

It's also important, and I'm going to speak on behalf of the Channel Chiefs this year, to send a big thank you to our partners and partner ecosystem for setting us up for this success. There's no doubt we have the best partners in the world and would not be recognized without their support.

What a way to head into Cisco Partner Summit 2016 taking place in San Diego next week, where we'll be able to see many of our partners and thank them in person.

Join me in congratulating the following CRN Channel Chiefs at Cisco this year:

Wendy Bahr
Senior Vice President, Global Partner Organization
Wendy Bahr is the Senior Vice President of Cisco's Global Partner Organization. She has responsibility for managing and supporting 60,000+ global partners who represent the company's primary route to market. Encompassing system integrators, value-added resellers, distributors, services partners, independent software vendors, and technology partners, this global connected partner ecosystem accounts for more than 80 percent of Cisco's revenue and is a unique differentiator in helping deliver business outcomes for customers and promoting growth for Cisco.

Rick Snyder
Vice President, Americas Partner Organization
Rick Snyder is Vice President of the Americas Partner Organization (APO), which is Cisco's largest geographical region representing the United States, Canada, and Latin America. APO helps 23,000+ Cisco partners across the region expand their businesses with new business models, enter new markets, and create solutions that solve our customer's challenges.

Julie Hens
Vice President, Global Distribution Sales
Julie Hens is a 16 year veteran whose responsibility covers all aspects of sales, marketing, operations and logistics for the Global Distribution organization, which is one of the fastest growing segments of Cisco's business. Julie has grown the two-tier business by double digits over the past two years and established a new transformational strategy to capture new market transitions around cloud, software and IoT.

Denny Trevett
Vice President, Global ISV and Technology Partners
Denny Trevett is a 19-year Cisco sales and channels veteran. He joined the Global Partner Organization (GPO) in August 2012 assuming leadership for the Global ISV & Technology Partner team. In his current role, Denny works closely with Cisco's geographical regions, engineering teams, services, and marketing to drive the right Independent Software Vendor (ISV) approach to accelerate success across new and existing partner ecosystems required to support the Internet of Everything. Furthermore, his team is responsible for accelerating the success of many of Cisco's most strategic technology partnerships, including Apple, Microsoft and SAP.

Ken Trombetta
Vice President, Worldwide Channels Global Partner Organization
Ken Trombetta is the Vice President of Cisco's Global Partner Organization, leading the company's route to market strategies and programs for Software, Services, Solutions and Architectures for 60,000+ global partners. Encompassing system integrators, value-added resellers, distributors, services partners, independent software vendors, and technology partners, this global connected partner ecosystem accounts for approximately 80 percent of Cisco's revenue and is a differentiator in helping deliver business outcomes for customers and driving growth for Cisco.

Sandra Flinders
Senior Director, Worldwide Services Partner Programs
As Senior Director of Programs for the Global Partner Organization, Sandra Flinders leads the partner programs and channel strategy and execution globally for Cisco. Sandra was the central architect and business leader in the development and launch of the Cisco Services Partner Program, which extends Cisco's value-based channel model and provides partners with access to new smart services to help drive their differentiation and strengthen customer relationships.

Nirav Sheth
Senior Director, Systems Engineering and Architectures, Americas Partner Organization
Nirav Sheth is the Systems Engineering and Architecture GTM/Sales Strategy Leader for the Americas Partner Organization. Through a team of 200+ employees and thousands of partners, Nirav is responsible for partner enablement/capacity, technology strategy, sales acceleration, and, helping partners enter new markets and practice areas while providing them with the support structure as they transform to deliver customer outcomes in the world of hybrid IT.