Top Gun 51 Profile: Pat Hurley’s Acronis Cyber Protection Journey

At the start of his career, Acronis’ Patrick Hurley didn’t plan to be working in cyber protection.

Instead, after graduating from college, he joined the world of finance with Putnam Investments. Soon he moved into the mortgage industry with Nation One Mortgage and then to the former IndyMac Bank. But in 2008, life intervened and Hurley went to work for Acronis, following an interest he had in technology. Today, Hurley serves as Acronis VP and general manager for the Americas.

In his work at the Switzerland-based backup and disaster recovery provider, Hurley has gained a reputation as someone who effectively works with partners and customers daily.

Acronis’ Patrick Hurley

That’s the kind of leadership that earned Hurley’s selection as a Channel Partners Top Gun 51 award winner for 2020. The award recognizes channel executives who are driving partner success for their companies. Judges considered three criteria for this year’s winners. They are channel advocacy; commitment to partner business success; and dedication to earning the channel’s trust. To come up with the list, we solicited input from those who know channel executives best — distributors, master agents and industry analysts.

Hurley recently talked with Channel Futures about how he got started in the channel and found his career niche.

Channel Futures: Before joining Acronis 12 years ago, you had a very different career path. Initially, you worked in the banking and mortgage industries after earning your degree in political science at Boston College. So, after that, what brought you to working in the channel?

Patrick Hurley: In college, I had no idea what I wanted to do or what I wanted to be. When I was in school, I had a big interest in philosophy and history. I started out right after college in the financial services industry. Quickly I found out it wasn’t for me. I wanted to be in sales. So I got into the mortgage industry, but that tanked in the Great Recession of 2007. I always had a passion for technology, but I didn’t know a ton about it. I wanted to get my foot in the door and into the space.

CF: So that’s how you eventually landed at Acronis working with cyber protection products?

PH: I came in at fairly entry-level sales position to start. Then I started to rise through the ranks, from sales to account manager. I was then a territory manager, a sales manager, a director and then managed the public sector business. I got to know the channel well, then transitioned to an SMB role, which exposed me to a broader role. Ultimately, I became the VP of a region and was promoted to VP and GM of the Americas in 2015.

CP: What are your impressions about the channel today in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic?

PH: It’s a new world right now, and we’re still adapting to a new normal. It’s even harder getting the attention of our partners and customers. There are so many virtual events competing with each other. It makes it harder to …