Google’s cloud arm has appointed Chris Ciauri as its president for EMEA, with a focus on expanding the firm’s commercial potency and reaching more customers.
Ciauri, who is leaving his post as executive vice president EMEA at Salesforce after ten years at the company, will lead Google Cloud’s EMEA sales operations. This is part of a wider growth in customer-facing functions and global sales.
Ciauri has also held sales roles at a number of tech companies including Adobe Systems and Peoplesoft. The former Salesforce exec will also lead Google Cloud’s push to improve the way it serves its existing customers.
Meanwhile, his predecessor in the role, Sebastien Marotte, is taking on the role of vice president for the channel in EMEA.
His appointment comprises another prong in wider efforts to improve Google Cloud’s sales operations after CEO Thomas Kurian took over from Diane Greene in November.
These efforts mainly comprise hiring for a number of global sales management and staffing positions as Kurian aims to grow the company’s sales force.
The firm also shook up its remuneration structure in July, according to Silicon Valley Business Journal, reducing the base salary for salespeople and increasing quarterly bonuses for hitting sales targets.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the Microsoft Azure cloud platform have to date held a more substantial market share against Google Cloud, which lags behind in third place.
"We’re committed to expanding our sales leadership and support teams around the world to meet the needs of our growing customer base," Google Cloud's president of global customer operations Rob Enslin told Channel Pro.
"Chris is an inspirational business leader who will ensure we continue to build strong relationships with users, including HSBC, Spotify, Airbus and many others. His expertise in running multi-billion dollar sales organizations and managing large teams will be invaluable as we focus on accelerating our growth.”
