{"id":10429,"date":"2026-04-06T17:13:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T15:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/partnernews.sophos.com\/en-us\/?p=10429"},"modified":"2026-04-07T12:03:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T10:03:21","slug":"scott-barlow-wins-crn-channel-madness-channel-first-leadership-recognized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/partnernews.sophos.com\/en-us\/2026\/04\/partner-program\/scott-barlow-wins-crn-channel-madness-channel-first-leadership-recognized\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Barlow Wins CRN Channel Madness: Channel-First Leadership Recognized"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At Sophos, we\u2019re proud to have leaders who don\u2019t just \u201ctalk the talk\u201d about being channel-first\u2014they define what it looks like in practice. Scott Barlow, is one of the best examples of those leaders.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why we are beyond proud, but not surprised, to see Scott named the winner of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crn.com\/news\/running-your-business\/2026\/sophos-barlow-claims-channel-madness-crown-with-decisive-win\"><strong>2026 CRN Channel Madness Tournament of Chiefs<\/strong><\/a>, a recognition that reflects both his impact on the channel and the trust he\u2019s built across the partner community.<\/p>\n<p>In the championship round, Scott earned a decisive victory with <strong>69% of the vote<\/strong>, underscoring the strong support behind his leadership.<\/p>\n<p>Channel Madness is unique in that winners are chosen by the channel itself, making this recognition especially meaningful.<\/p>\n<h2>Shaping a Channel-First Approach at Sophos<\/h2>\n<p>Scott is VP, Chief Evangelist, and GTM Strategist at Sophos. He plays a key role in shaping how Sophos engages with and supports partners, bringing a perspective grounded in real-world experience and a deep understanding of what partners need to succeed.<\/p>\n<p>In his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crn.com\/news\/running-your-business\/2026\/sophos-barlow-claims-channel-madness-crown-with-decisive-win?itc=refresh\">interview with CRN<\/a>, Scott acknowledged his love for this work and the impact it\u2019s had to relationships: \u201cI\u2019ve focused my career on building deep and lasting relationships at scale and helping people\u2014whether that\u2019s my team, partners or others in the industry\u2014navigate challenges and grow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>From championing partner feedback to helping guide how we evolve our programs, Scott\u2019s influence continues to shape how we show up for partners today and how we\u2019ll support them in the future.<\/p>\n<h2>Looking Ahead<\/h2>\n<p>Scott often says he\u2019s \u201cjust the voice of the channel\u201d\u2014but his influence extends across every part of our partner strategy.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re proud to celebrate this well-deserved recognition as we continue to strengthen how we support and grow with our partners.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you to every partner who voted, engaged, and continues to help shape our community.<\/p>\n<p>Congratulations, Scott!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At Sophos, we\u2019re proud to have leaders who don\u2019t just \u201ctalk the talk\u201d about being channel-first\u2014they define what it looks like in practice. Scott Barlow, is one of the best examples of those leaders. That\u2019s why we are beyond proud, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":10430,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[128],"coauthors":[64],"class_list":["post-10429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-partner-program","tag-crn"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/partnernews.sophos.com\/en-us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/04\/CRN-channel-maddness-2026_partner_blog_1600x960.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/partnernews.sophos.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/partnernews.sophos.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/partnernews.sophos.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partnernews.sophos.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partnernews.sophos.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10429"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/partnernews.sophos.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10434,"href":"https:\/\/partnernews.sophos.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10429\/revisions\/10434"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partnernews.sophos.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/partnernews.sophos.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partnernews.sophos.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partnernews.sophos.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10429"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/partnernews.sophos.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=10429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}