1. Bill Lipsin

VP, Worldwide Channels

NetApp

Bill Lipsin,  the driving force behind a robust increase in the company's channel business in the last year, left the company as of July 31, but he is still our choice as the No. 1 sales leader based on the company's impressive channel performance this year.

Lipsin, a 12 year channel sales veteran, provided the channel and technology leadership at a time when NetApp had fallen behind its peers in both product development and sales. When Lipsin, a 12-year channel sales veteran, took the NetApp channel reins two years ago, he was determined to have the channel play a key role in reinvigorating the company's business. Lipsin delivered.

His passion and energy, along with a quiet sense of humor, paid off in helping NetApp turn around and become what is now the only major storage vendor showing revenue and market-share growth. That passion and energy will hard to replace for NetApp.