Rob Schaeffer, HPE’s former VP of Channel Sales, returns to his partner roots at woman-owned systems integrator
We’re pleased to announce that today Rob Schaeffer, former Vice President of Channel Sales at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), has joined our Executive Team as President. Rob Schaeffer is a highly respected industry leader and brings more than 20 years of strategic management experience in both OEM and channel roles.
The move represents a landmark acquisition for CBT as we continue to build on recent success bridging the gap between information and operational technologies (IT and OT). CBT has seen 55% growth over the past two years and Schaeffer believes that trajectory will only continue to rise.
“I think CBT is poised to be one of those companies that will come out of the pandemic and do really, really well in what the new normal will look like in terms of what we offer to our customers,” said Schaeffer. “And what we do to help our customers not only survive but thrive in what the new normal is going to be. Technology is going to be a key component of how companies live, grow, and prosper in the future.”
Schaeffer says joining CBT is a return to his roots. He was a managing partner for top solution provider STA for 15 years before moving to HPE as a District Manager in 2013. He led strategic accounts for HPE’s Enterprise Storage Division in Southern California then moved up to Director of Channel Sales West and, finally, spent 3 years as Vice President of Channel Sales in the US.
CBT Founder & CEO, Kelly Ireland, said Schaeffer’s hiring is a massive plus for the entire CBT team and their ecosystem of industry partners, including HPE. “Having personal, deep roots on the partner side has always provided Rob with a cultured view of the channel,” says Ireland. “He made it a mission to understand the unique value of each partner and how best to integrate with HPE. Rob always invested focused time and energy in understanding the uniqueness of CBT’s approach to this industry and is a devout champion of our view of what value-add really means.”
The addition of Schaeffer to CBT will also allow Ireland to focus her energy on the technical, solution development side of the house, as her true passion has always been centered around innovation. In turn, Schaeffer will focus on his strengths, aligning strongly with sales, marketing, and operations to strategically grow the business.
“For the last 6 months, the CBT Executive Team has been working to bring on a key executive like Rob,” says Ireland. “He has all the attributes we were looking for and more: a wonderful combination of industry expertise, phenomenal management, and sales skills, and the respect of anyone who meets him. We could not be more excited for Rob to join the team.”
While Schaeffer was thriving at HPE, a company he says he “fell in love with”, the opportunity to lead CBT’s continued growth alongside Kelly Ireland was an opportunity he couldn’t refuse. “The sky is the limit,” says Schaeffer.
To learn more about the team, visit https://www.cbtechinc.com/about/.