Romano Ninassi — Partnerships Manager
Romano Ninassi is a seasoned partner leader with over two decades of experience in the IT industry. He specializes in partnerships and alliances, business development, Software as a Service (SaaS), and value-based solution selling. Currently, he serves as the Global Head of Partnerships & Alliances at Redpanda. Prior to Redpanda, Romano was the Head of Partners & Alliances in the Americas at Confluent. He played a pivotal role in scaling partner sales and helping the company achieve $1B in ARR. During his tenure, Confluent grew revenue ~10x, launched its Cloud offerings, achieved a successful IPO on NASDAQ (CFLT), and accelerated its path to profitability. His extensive experience includes leadership positions at industry-leading technology companies including HPE, Dell, and Cisco. Specialties: Channels, Alliances, Business Development, Cloud, ISV, Apache Kafka, Security, GenAI, Data Center, Start-up environment, Developing partner go-to-market strategies, Global experience, Open Source, Pre-IPO to IPO
Stackforce AI infers this person is a SaaS Partnerships and Business Development expert with extensive experience in scaling revenue.
Location: Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Experience: 29 yrs 6 mos
Skills
- Business Development
- Partnerships And Alliances
Career Highlights
- Led partner sales to achieve $1B in ARR.
- Key player in Confluent's successful IPO.
- Extensive experience in SaaS and partnerships.
Work Experience
Redpanda Data
Head of Global Partnerships & Alliances (1 yr 5 mos)
Confluent
Head of Partners & Alliances, Americas (6 yrs 7 mos)
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Regional Channel Sales Leader - Mid-Atlantic/Southeast (5 yrs 10 mos)
MicroTech
VP Alliances - Cisco & EMC (6 mos)
VCE, the Virtual Computing Environment Company/Acadia
Sr. Director, Channel Sales North America (1 yr 11 mos)
Cisco Systems
Sr. Global Sales Business Development Manager - EMC OEM (5 yrs 3 mos)
Storage & Optical SE Manager - WW Channel Operations (1 yr 10 mos)
Consulting Systems Engineer – Global/NSP East Operations (1 yr 8 mos)
Sr. Marketing Manager - Enterprise Solutions (4 yrs 6 mos)
Education
B.S. at University of Florida