A statement from the company said under Patel, it would make strategic investments in its partner ecosystem to speed up the channel's change into an arm that could support deployment and support of the data-first Secure Access Service Edge platform.

"We are committed to building a robust, global partner ecosystem for the delivery of cyber security solutions that protect critical enterprise data and IP; including partnerships focused on data-first risk-based solutions," said John DiLullo, chief revenue officer.

"Helping our 10,000+ customers migrate securely to the cloud has become Forcepoint's consuming passion. Our products and our partners are critical fuel for this effort.

Patel has more than 20 years' experience and has been known for transforming go-to-market strategies that drive growth for industry-leading enterprise SaaS companies.

He worked for VMware for 14 years, building multiple routes-to-market that helped it grow annual sales from approximately US$250 million (A$321.6 million) to more than US$8 billion.

Under him, the global partner ecosystem grew from hundreds of partners to tens of thousands worldwide.

Patel also brought VMware's hyperconverged platform to market and acquired more than 10,000 customers. Most recently, he helped build transformational partnerships at C3.ai, a leader in enterprise AI.

"The threat surface that enterprises must protect has exploded in recent years," Patel said. "Compute workloads have become more distributed as workforces have dispersed, and billions of new devices have been added to an already fragile IT ecosystem.

"Organisations of every size are accelerating their adoption of both zero trust and SASE architectures, and Forcepoint has the industry's most comprehensive and differentiated portfolio offering.

"After more than 20 years of leading global channels and sales teams, I understand the critical role partners play in customer adoption and satisfaction.

"From distributors to solution providers and systems integrators, MSPs, cloud partners, OEMs and technology alliances, we plan to harness the value of a broad ecosystem to make the enterprise as secure as possible.

"Our mission is to create friction-free partnerships, to foster a spirit of collaboration in the channel, and to ensure that Forcepoint's customers receive unparalleled service and support.

"Securing and protecting our customers is Job #1; nurturing a vibrant partner and alliance ecosystem is Step #1 toward that goal. I am excited to be leading this critical element of Forcepoint's transformation and look forward to sharing more details in the coming weeks and months."