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Rob Rae Lands at Pax8 - CRN In Depth
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After months of wondering where Rob Rae, former SVP of business development and channel chief of Datto, would land after leaving Datto, he's at Pax8. CRN reporter CJ Fairfield followed the story and shares details. [Published Feb. 3, 2023]
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‘This is going to be working with a lot of the great people that are already at Pax, a lot of the great teams there, leveraging my experience to bring some of this together, leveraging some of my connections to be able to bring all this together as well and then also being able to stay really active in the community and out there, which is something that I enjoyed quite a lot.’ says Rob Rae, corporate vice president of community and ecosystems at Pax8.
Rob Rae, the longtime face of Datto who’s built a reputation as a fierce advocate for MSPs, is taking his channel talents to Denver-based distributor Pax8 as the corporate vice president of community and ecosystems, a new role in the company.
“Pax8 is growing significantly quickly,” Rae told CRN. “The leadership over at Pax8 is significant. I‘ve known Nick [Heddy, chief commerce officer] and Ryan Walsh [COO] for more than a decade. Just watching these guys work, watching them interact with each other, talking to other Pax8 employees, seeing them out on the road…everybody’s just so overwhelmingly happy with this company. Why would you not want to be a part of it?”
In his new role, Rae will continue to improve and grow MSP relationships, provide guidance and consultation to implement new programs and partner with the Pax8’s channel team on industry events and community operations. He will also be hosting Pax8’s inaugural Beyond 2023 conference in June.
“Going through this interview process and meeting with a number of different organizations through this process, their view and passion for the growth of the MSP is second to none,” said Rae.
After nearly 10 years, Rae left his position as senior vice president of business development at Datto in October just months after Miami-based Kaseya bought the company for $6.2 billion, even after Kaseya CEO Fred Voccola said Rae would be staying on after the acquisition. Since departing Datto, Rae has remained silent on where he was headed next as the acquisition shook the channel and garnered a huge response from the partner community, leaving many questioning Rae’s next move.
“It has been fun to watch the different forums theorize what would be the best fit for Rob Rae,” Nick Heddy, who Rae will be reporting to, told CRN. “Rob Rae has developed an amazing brand and what I admire about it is it‘s always been Rob Rae, a Datto employee, it’s never been Rob Rae the individual. I think a lot of people have theorized it would make perfect sense [to see the] evolution of Rob Rae, the Datto employee to Rob Rae, the ecosystem evangelist.”
The ‘Worst-Kept Secret’
For months the channel has speculated where Rae would go next after leaving Datto with many guessing correctly that he would land at Pax8.
“ It‘s funny because…it’s like this worst-kept secret and I think that‘s probably going to be the reaction of everybody, like everybody knew this was going to happen,” Rae said. “But there were rumors, even Nick and I connected about it and said, ‘Are you hearing these rumors because I’m hearing these rumors.’ Apparently people are making up where we‘re all going to work next.”
Heddy said Rae has been a presence over the last 25 years in the channel and he expects the same to be true moving forward.
“It was a natural fit and I think everybody saw it,” Rae said. “You see an organization like Pax8, great culture, great organization and channel-only. You see somebody like me that‘s passionate about all those things and I think it was just a normal, natural fit for everybody. And then everybody just assumed that that’s what was happening. So I think that’s probably where it was all stemming from, whether that fueled it or hindered it I don‘t know. But ultimately at the end of the day it worked out.”
Heddy said “similarities in our DNA” make Rae and Pax8 a good fit. Pax8 is all about helping MSPs grow their business and Rae will be the subject matter expert on that very topic, he said.
“What I love about Rob‘s title and why a lot of people think it’s very avant garde is absolutely where we‘re going,” Heddy said, explaining that Rae’s role will include influencing and amplifying what Pax8’s vendor partners do.
Learn more on CRN:
‘This is going to be working with a lot of the great people that are already at Pax, a lot of the great teams there, leveraging my experience to bring some of this together, leveraging some of my connections to be able to bring all this together as well and then also being able to stay really active in the community and out there, which is something that I enjoyed quite a lot.’ says Rob Rae, corporate vice president of community and ecosystems at Pax8.
Rob Rae, the longtime face of Datto who’s built a reputation as a fierce advocate for MSPs, is taking his channel talents to Denver-based distributor Pax8 as the corporate vice president of community and ecosystems, a new role in the company.
“Pax8 is growing significantly quickly,” Rae told CRN. “The leadership over at Pax8 is significant. I‘ve known Nick [Heddy, chief commerce officer] and Ryan Walsh [COO] for more than a decade. Just watching these guys work, watching them interact with each other, talking to other Pax8 employees, seeing them out on the road…everybody’s just so overwhelmingly happy with this company. Why would you not want to be a part of it?”
In his new role, Rae will continue to improve and grow MSP relationships, provide guidance and consultation to implement new programs and partner with the Pax8’s channel team on industry events and community operations. He will also be hosting Pax8’s inaugural Beyond 2023 conference in June.
“Going through this interview process and meeting with a number of different organizations through this process, their view and passion for the growth of the MSP is second to none,” said Rae.
After nearly 10 years, Rae left his position as senior vice president of business development at Datto in October just months after Miami-based Kaseya bought the company for $6.2 billion, even after Kaseya CEO Fred Voccola said Rae would be staying on after the acquisition. Since departing Datto, Rae has remained silent on where he was headed next as the acquisition shook the channel and garnered a huge response from the partner community, leaving many questioning Rae’s next move.
“It has been fun to watch the different forums theorize what would be the best fit for Rob Rae,” Nick Heddy, who Rae will be reporting to, told CRN. “Rob Rae has developed an amazing brand and what I admire about it is it‘s always been Rob Rae, a Datto employee, it’s never been Rob Rae the individual. I think a lot of people have theorized it would make perfect sense [to see the] evolution of Rob Rae, the Datto employee to Rob Rae, the ecosystem evangelist.”
The ‘Worst-Kept Secret’
For months the channel has speculated where Rae would go next after leaving Datto with many guessing correctly that he would land at Pax8.
“ It‘s funny because…it’s like this worst-kept secret and I think that‘s probably going to be the reaction of everybody, like everybody knew this was going to happen,” Rae said. “But there were rumors, even Nick and I connected about it and said, ‘Are you hearing these rumors because I’m hearing these rumors.’ Apparently people are making up where we‘re all going to work next.”
Heddy said Rae has been a presence over the last 25 years in the channel and he expects the same to be true moving forward.
“It was a natural fit and I think everybody saw it,” Rae said. “You see an organization like Pax8, great culture, great organization and channel-only. You see somebody like me that‘s passionate about all those things and I think it was just a normal, natural fit for everybody. And then everybody just assumed that that’s what was happening. So I think that’s probably where it was all stemming from, whether that fueled it or hindered it I don‘t know. But ultimately at the end of the day it worked out.”
Heddy said “similarities in our DNA” make Rae and Pax8 a good fit. Pax8 is all about helping MSPs grow their business and Rae will be the subject matter expert on that very topic, he said.
“What I love about Rob‘s title and why a lot of people think it’s very avant garde is absolutely where we‘re going,” Heddy said, explaining that Rae’s role will include influencing and amplifying what Pax8’s vendor partners do.
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