Digital Reality boosts EMEA channel with senior appointments

Christine Rawlinson takes the role of director of Partner & Alliances for EMEA North, while Gudrun Schnell joins as director of Partner & Alliances for EMEA Central & East

Digital Reality has announced the appointment of two new channel leads for EMEA, as the global data centre provider moves to bolster its team in the region.

Christine Rawlinson takes the role of director of Partner & Alliances for EMEA North, while Gudrun Schnell joins as director of Partner & Alliances for EMEA Central & East, which incorporates the DACH region and the Netherlands.

Both arrive having spent eight years at Equinix and are tasked with building and driving the expansion of Digital Reality’s channel ecosystem into their respective areas, the firm said.

Rawlinson arrives with a wealth of channel experience, including being one of the founding members of Equinix’s global partner programme. Prior to that, she also spent ten years at a B2B channel agency, helping to generate millions of dollars in incremental business for multiple blue-chip tech firms through channel initiatives.

“The key ingredient in building an effective and successful channel program is collaboration,” Rawlinson commented. “That means creating an environment in which we are able to create true partnerships: authentic and mutually beneficial.

“I look forward to working with Gudrun again and am confident that our combined experience will make for a strong team at Digital Reality.”

Schnell also joins the business having spent the last eight years leading Equinix’s channel sales team in the DACH region. With a wealth of experience in sales roles at outsourcing companies, she also spent ten years at Siemens Business Services as its head of sales for South/West Germany, as well as a stint in sales support at Electronic Data Systems (EDS).

“It’s an incredibly exciting time to be joining Digital Reality – it’s not often you are given the opportunity to build a channel from the ground up, so I’m eager to get stuck in,” Schnell said.

“The key for me will be taking the knowledge I have gained over the past few years and applying it at Digital Reality to ensure the channel we build is both efficient and effective.”