Former president Dagher has moved to Dell
TORONTO — Cisco announced today Shannon Leininger (pictured, left) has been appointed as the new president of Cisco Systems Canada. Leininger joins the Canadian subsidiary from Cisco’s U.S. public sector group and will officially start in her new position next week.
“Shannon has built a legacy of developing high-performing teams and advocating for the next generation of leaders. We’re thrilled to have her take the helm of the Canadian team,” said Jeff Sharritts, senior vice-president of Americas sales at Cisco, in the company’s news release announcing Leininger’s appointment. “As a long-standing Cisco employee and a well-respected sales leader, Shannon understands purpose is at the heart of everything we do. This understanding will be critical as she looks to support our people, our customers and partners, and communities across Canada in her new role.”
Leininger previously served as Cisco’s area vice-president for state/local governments and education, based out of Washington, D.C. She led initiatives to accelerate digital transformation of public sector organizations and help them navigate rapid technological change, including mobility, big data and analytics, IoT, and cloud and shared services, says the news release.
“As we continue to align with where our customers are headed, help them overcome their mission critical challenges and support their business continuity, it is critical that we focus on how they are adapting their digital strategies for the future. At Cisco, we believe that technology’s primary purpose should be for good and we are committed to leading the way and leveraging our technology to power an inclusive future,” said Leininger, in the Cisco release.
Leininger plays an active role in inclusion and diversity initiatives and currently serves as an executive sponsor for the America sales inclusion and collaboration team, and is an International Women’s Forum leadership fellow and a member of Harrisburg University’s STEM Up advisory board.
The former president of Cisco Canada, Rola Dagher (pictured, right), is now the global channel chief of Dell Technologies. Her appointment was announced mid-August, but Dagher officially took over the position on September 7.
Dagher returns to Dell after three years as Cisco Canada president. Prior to that, she held sales and leadership roles in Dell’s enterprise segment and infrastructure solutions group.
In a blog post on September 10 addressed to Dell’s channel partners, Dagher wrote: “I’m humbled and honored to begin a new chapter as Dell Technologies’ global channel chief… The partner community has been close to my heart for the past two decades in my roles at Bell Canada, Dell and Cisco. I’m grateful to be entering this chapter with a number of trusted friends and colleagues by my side; relationships I’ve built while working to accelerate partner growth and deliver outstanding outcomes for our customers.”
The blog post also includes a video recorded from Dagher’s home office in Toronto in which she says she’s “extremely excited and humbled to be back home” at Dell, where she first started working eight years ago.
As global channel chief at Dell, Dagher reports to Bill Scannell, Dell Technologies president of global sales and customer operations.
