Creative writer of short stories, novels, memoirs, personal essay and poetry
KRISTEN EDWARDS
San Francisco
Summary
Proven leader with over 20 years of global alliances management, business development, sales, and program management Accomplished problem-solver skilled at leading teams through the process of addressing business challenges and transforming them into new routes to market and opportunities that drive revenue. Excel at forming relationships at all levels, including executive, to drive key business outcomes.
Professional with robust background in directing and managing large-scale operations, consistently driving success through strategic planning and execution. Adept at implementing innovative solutions that enhance productivity and operational effectiveness. Known for fostering teamwork and adapting to evolving business needs, ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
Work History
Director, Channel Partnerships
Collibra
01.2022 - Current
- Manage strategic partnerships with Snowflake, Databricks, Cognizant PwC, Wipro and SAP, directing business development, co-selling, marketing, and product integration.
- Work with GSIs to develop accelerators and identify key account targets for Collibra within their Data & AI practices.
- Accelerate global sales by developing innovative go-to-market strategies with three-way GSI motions, achieving 10M in pipeline and over 170% sales target.
- Grew ARR by 100% from 2022 to 2023 and 50% from 2023 to 2024, consistently outpacing targets. Achieved 108% of influenced ARR target for FY'25.
- Create and distribute 'better together' messaging and enablement content to Collibra and partner sales teams, supporting co-sell initiatives.
- Collaborate with marketing on joint campaigns, including webinars and solution briefs, enhancing partner engagement and customer acquisition.
- Execute event presence for Snowflake Summit and Databricks Data & AI Summit, synthesizing competitive announcements and recommending new messaging.
- Connect partner and Collibra field organizations to unlock partner-sourced opportunities, strengthening joint business endeavors.
Director, Business Development, Hyperscaler Alliances
VMware, Inc
11.2021 - 08.2022
- Responsible for the go-to-market relationship of Oracle Cloud VMware Solution (OCVS), with a focus on driving multiple routes-to-market within Oracle, inclusive of ARR.
- Boost sales by obtaining product certifications, forming upgrade programs, facilitating team collaboration, and coordinating engineering co-development.
- Negotiate contractual amendments and agreements to unlock new routes-to-market.
- Engage with marketing to develop and execute joint marketing activities, including events, blogs, solution briefs, reference architectures, press releases, white papers and sales enablement materials.
- Align and improve technical support processes between the two companies.
- Collaborate closely with VMware product groups to certify, support and go-to-market with additional VMware products such as Tanzu Standard, Horizon, vRealize Suite, and SRM.
- Form three-way solutions with large GSIs to create and drive replicable sales motions.
Director, Technology Alliance Partner Program (TAP)
VMware, Inc
San Francisco, United States
01.2013 - 11.2021
- Managed development and operations of the TAP program, aligning a 1,300+ global technology alliance ecosystem with customer IT priorities.
- Segmented partner ecosystem to identify high-value partnerships, an created self-serve strategy for the "long tail."
- Increased partner go-to-market engagement by 165% through new programs and tier additions.
- Led a team of 13, achieving an 82% average renewal rate in partner management.
- Directed large-scale projects, including creating a Salesforce self-help system, reducing operations workload by 60%.
- Devised a competitive partnering strategy for company-wide co-opetition in the VMware ecosystem. Collaborated with cross-functional teams to implement.
- Earned EPIC2 Award for execution excellence.
Senior Product Manager - VMware Marketplace
VMware, Inc
San Francisco, United States
12.2012 - 12.2013
- Designed and launched VMware's online marketplace for third-party ecosystem solutions, containing 1,800 partner-generated listing and receiving 1M unique visitors each year.
- Generated 3,500 leads for technology partners.
- Earned 2013 Alliance Manager of the Year Award.
Senior Global Alliances Manager, IBM Software
VMware, Inc
Palo Alto, United States
01.2006 - 12.2008
- Senior Global Alliances Manager, IBM Software (Nov 2005 - Dec 2008)
- Led overall strategy and execution for VMware's relationship with IBM Software globally, successfully unblocking 75+ deals in two years by securing company-wide support policy for all IBM Software workloads running on vSphere.
- Drove additional revenue through embedded/OEM opportunities and packaged offerings from multiple companies.
- Navigated matrixed organizations at both companies to achieve stated objectives, including balancing both synergistic and competitive motions.
Education
Bachelor of Arts -
The University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VASkills
- Relationship building
- Strategic planning
- Verbal and written communication
- Decision-making
- Co-selling
- Executive relationships
- Partner segmentation
- Partner program creation and management
- People management
- Creativity and innovation
- Strategies and goals
Websites
Accomplishments
- Exceeded Sales Targets: Achieved 170% (2023) and 122% (YTD 2025) of sales targets, generating an average of $10M in pipeline per year.
- Expanded Partner Engagement: Managed 1,300+ partners in Technology Alliance Program, driving 165% go-to-market engagement increase.
- Enhanced Deal Closure: Secured 75+ deals by establishing IBM support policy and driving revenue through OEM opportunities.
- Optimized Operational Efficiency: Directed Salesforce project, reducing team caseload by 60%, while fostering career growth on team.
Interests
Timeline
Director, Channel Partnerships
Collibra
01.2022 - Current
Director, Business Development, Hyperscaler Alliances
VMware, Inc
11.2021 - 08.2022
Director, Technology Alliance Partner Program (TAP)
VMware, Inc
01.2013 - 11.2021
Senior Product Manager - VMware Marketplace
VMware, Inc
12.2012 - 12.2013
Senior Global Alliances Manager, IBM Software
VMware, Inc
01.2006 - 12.2008
Bachelor of Arts -
The University of Virginia
EARLY CAREER EXPERIENCE
- Channel Sales Manager, Inside Sales Manager, ISV Alliance Manager, Field Sales Representative
- Direct and Partner Sales roles at Netscape Communications, Brio Software, and VMware, Inc