One Identity names channel chiefs for EMEA & North America

One Identity has appointed Marianne Van Der Pluym as EMEA Channel and Alliances Director and Tracey Mead as North America Channel and Alliances Director, expanding its regional channel leadership in identity security.

They will lead partner strategy in their respective regions as One Identity sharpens its focus on a partner-led route to market. Their appointments come as the company continues to reshape its business after becoming an independent company headquartered in Cork.

Van Der Pluym joins from Cryptomathic, where she was Global Head of Partnerships. Earlier, she held roles including Vice President of Global MSSP/MSP Strategy and Sales at OpenText Cybersecurity, as well as channel and alliances leadership positions at Micro Focus, NetIQ and IBM.

Her background is in identity and access management, where she has received several global sales awards. She has also served as a Women4Cyber mentor.

Mead joins from Contrast Security, where she was Vice President of Global Alliances and Channels. She previously held senior channel and alliance leadership roles at OpenText Cybersecurity, Micro Focus, NetIQ, Novell and CA Technologies.

She has been named six times to CRN's Women of the Channel list, including the Power 100, and was also recognised as a 2026 CRN Channel Chief.

The two executives previously worked together at Micro Focus. They bring experience across global alliances, managed services and partner-led go-to-market programmes.

The hires reflect a broader shift in channel strategy across the cybersecurity sector, as vendors rely more heavily on service-led partners rather than traditional resale relationships. Identity security has become a particularly active area in that transition as customers seek outside help to manage governance, privileged access and growing operational complexity.

Ian Sutherland, Chief Revenue Officer at One Identity, said the partner landscape is changing.

"Partners play an increasingly important role in helping organizations adopt and manage modern identity security solutions, and strong channel leadership is essential to supporting that success," said Ian Sutherland, Chief Revenue Officer at One Identity.

"Marianne and Tracey both have a clear point of view about where partners are heading: away from resale, toward managed services and outcome-based engagement, and into depth around specific domains like identity. That direction is where we are taking our partner program."

For Van Der Pluym, the role marks a return to a segment where she has spent much of her career. She focused on specialist partners in EMEA and the need to support those building identity-focused practices.

"Identity is in my DNA, and the deep commitment One Identity has for its partners is perfectly aligned with my passion to build and support a partner ecosystem that helps our partners solve the most complex identity security challenges," said Marianne Van Der Pluym, EMEA Channel and Alliances Director at One Identity.

"Across EMEA, the partners growing fastest are the ones who have picked a lane. My focus is making sure we deliver a partner program and engagement that supports the partners who are going deep on delivering identity security outcomes."

Mead linked her appointment to the growing role of identity in broader cyber defence and to the importance of working through partners on customer projects.

"Over my time in cybersecurity, I've seen firsthand how critical identity has become to an organization's overall security strategy," said Tracey Mead, North America Channel and Alliances Director at One Identity.

"The partner-first culture and collaborative approach One Identity takes to solving customers' complex security challenges make it uniquely positioned for success. I look forward to working closely with our partner ecosystem to build joint solutions that help customers secure their environments, address AI challenges, and achieve stronger security outcomes."

The appointments follow One Identity's recent separation into an independent company, a move the company said would give it greater focus in a market being reshaped by artificial intelligence and the growth of non-human identities. The business says it is trusted by 80 of the Fortune 100 and focuses on identity governance and administration as well as privileged access management.