Brand & Channel Manager · Milan Area, Italy

Michelangelo
Restuccia

Fifteen years bridging vendor strategy and channel execution in Southern Europe's IT distribution ecosystem. From HPE to Dell Technologies — building partnerships that convert pipeline into growth.

15+
Years in IT, from Apple retail to enterprise channel distribution
30+
Active partners in managed portfolio
3
Tier-1 vendors represented across career
Italy
Primary market, with occasional cross-border export coordination beyond the EU

"The channel is not a middleman layer — it's where vendor ambition meets real customer need. My job is to make that translation as precise and profitable as possible."

Expertise

Channel & Partner Development

Portfolio management of 25–30 reseller and VAR partners. New partner acquisition, onboarding, and enablement. Deep understanding of two-tier distribution dynamics and partner program mechanics across major vendors.

Brand Field Management

Embedded vendor representation within a distributor environment — a structurally complex hybrid that requires serving two commercial masters simultaneously: Esprinet's revenue targets and Dell Technologies' brand standards and go-to-market priorities. A genuinely challenging position that keeps both strategic and operational muscles in constant use.

Pipeline & Sales Engineering

Opportunity monitoring from early qualification to close. CRM pipeline hygiene, deal registration management, and quarterly business review facilitation with partners across commercial and mid-market segments, with occasional exposure to enterprise accounts through partner-led opportunities.

Event & Go-to-Market Execution

End-to-end organisation of partner events, product launches, and enablement days. Experience translating complex technical roadmaps — AI-enabled endpoints, modern workplace solutions, managed services — into compelling partner narratives.

Technical Product Knowledge

Solid familiarity with Dell Technologies' commercial portfolio across endpoint, services, and core infrastructure categories. Former Apple Certified Trainer background adds cross-platform depth in environments that mix ecosystems — increasingly common in Italian mid-market and SMB accounts.

Strategic Communication

LinkedIn content creation and field marketing writing aligned to vendor messaging. Proven ability to adapt global GTM narratives for local Italian market sensibilities — across both reseller audiences and end-customer communications.

Experience

Esprinet S.p.A.
2018 — Present · Vimercate, Italy

Brand Field Manager — Dell Technologies

Embedded vendor representative managing Dell Technologies' commercial PC portfolio within one of Southern Europe's largest IT distributors. The role sits at the intersection of brand ownership and distribution execution — a rare hybrid that requires speaking fluently to both vendor strategy and partner commercial reality.

Responsible for a portfolio of 25–30 active partners spanning resellers, VARs, and system integrators across Northern and Central Italy. Daily activities cover partner development visits, pipeline monitoring in CRM, deal registration facilitation, quarterly business reviews, and co-funded event organisation — covering Dell's commercial endpoint, services, and modern infrastructure portfolio.

Also involved in the coordination of export-bound supplies to international clients, managing logistics, vendor compliance requirements, and cross-border regulatory aspects tied to Dell's partner programme rules. Recently active on emerging themes: AI-enabled endpoint positioning for the Italian SMB and mid-market channel, and building partner awareness around Dell's GenAI-adjacent service and security portfolio.

Dell Technologies Channel Management Partner Development Pipeline Management Event Organisation Export Coordination Modern Workplace
Tech Data (now TD SYNNEX)
2017 — 2018 · Milan, Italy

Sales Specialist — HPE

Channel sales specialist at Tech Data representing Hewlett Packard Enterprise's portfolio for the Italian SMB segment. In this concentrated but intense year, the focus was on generating new business opportunities across server, storage, and networking — managing the full deal lifecycle from qualification to close.

Heavy use of CRM and pipeline management tools to ensure every opportunity was actively tracked and followed through. The role built rigorous discipline around sales process and deal velocity, and provided direct exposure to enterprise infrastructure sales motions within one of the world's largest IT distributors.

HPE Enterprise Infrastructure Server & Storage Partner Enablement Two-Tier Distribution
Apple Ecosystem
2008 — 2017 · Messina & Milan, Italy

~10 Years Across Retail, Technical Support & Training

Before moving into IT distribution, nearly a decade was spent immersed in the Apple ecosystem across a progression of roles — from technical support and sales floor at Apple Premium Resellers in Messina, through store management, to independent consultancy and certified training in Milan.

As Store Manager at N.P.U. Group (Apple Premium Reseller), responsibilities covered P&L awareness, stock and supplier management, event organisation, and team coordination — a full general management remit in a retail technology environment. As a freelance consultant (2014–2017), the work shifted to enterprise: Mac integration in mixed networks, OS X Server, and cross-platform infrastructure support for business clients. The final chapter of this period was as an Apple Certified Trainer at Èspero, delivering iOS and macOS training and Apple Professional Certification programmes to both consumer and B2B audiences.

This background established the foundations that have defined the subsequent career in distribution: the ability to read a customer's real need rather than sell a feature list, to translate technical complexity into accessible language, and to train others — skills that transfer directly into partner enablement.

Apple Retail Management Technical Support Training & Certification B2B Consultancy macOS / iOS Apple Certified Support Professional
Certifications
Ongoing

Professional Certifications & Development

Formal certifications spanning technology distribution, Apple platforms, and professional branding.

GTDC Diploma in Technology Distribution ISC2 CC — Foundation Training Apple Certified Support Professional Business Development Foundations — LinkedIn Learning

Skills & Stack

Channel & Commercial

Partner Portfolio Management
Pipeline & CRM Management
Deal Registration & Quoting
Partner Business Reviews
Event & GTM Coordination
New Partner Acquisition
Partner Tier & Certification Development

Languages

Italian
English

Vendor & Product Knowledge

Dell Technologies (Endpoint, Services, Infrastructure)
HPE (Server, Storage, Networking)
Apple Platform (macOS, iOS, MDM)
AI-enabled Endpoint Solutions
Thin Client, VDI & Remote Workstation
Managed Services & Support Portfolio

Tools & Technology

CRM Platforms
Microsoft 365
Python (scripting & automation)
AI Tools (LLMs, local inference)

Selected Work

Channel Enablement

AI-Enabled Endpoint Go-to-Market — Italian Channel

Contributed to partner enablement around Dell's AI-enabled endpoint portfolio for the Italian reseller base. Translated global vendor narrative into locally actionable sales tools and event formats, addressing the specific objections and opportunity patterns of SMB-focused Italian VARs navigating the shift toward AI-ready hardware.

↳ Event series · Partner toolkit · Pipeline acceleration
Event Management · January 2026

Tecnologia È Scienza — Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia, Milan

Conceived, organised, and hosted a full-day partner and vendor event at one of Milan's most prestigious venues, bringing together close to 100 guests from across the Italian IT channel ecosystem. Acted as moderator and on-stage interviewer throughout — leading conversations with Dell Technologies Senior Directors on market outlook and strategy, facilitating a panel with distribution managers covering enterprise, services, and client segments, and hosting presentations from strategic technology partners Elemento Cloud and Moxoff on real-world AI and innovation use cases. Intel Corporation completed the programme with a forward-looking session on technology roadmap.

↳ ~100 attendees · Dell Technologies · Intel · Elemento Cloud · Moxoff · Esprinet Group
"Perfect coordination" — Senior Distribution Marketing Manager, Dell Technologies
Sales Operations

Quote Automation Tool

Independently developed a Python-based tool that parses Esprinet's internal quote exports and generates clean, formatted Excel pricing sheets for partner distribution — reducing turnaround time and eliminating manual formatting errors.

↳ Python · Excel automation · Daily operational use
Partner Development

New Partner Acquisition — Italy

Systematic prospecting and onboarding of new Dell-registered partners across Italy. Process included partner profiling, qualification, joint business plan definition, and transition to ongoing pipeline management.

↳ Partner acquisition · Business planning · Coverage expansion

Beyond the Role

I was born in Messina, Sicily — and that origin shapes how I think about relationships and trust, which are ultimately the only currencies that matter in the channel. I've spent fifteen years in an industry that rewards the ability to be simultaneously precise and persuasive, to hold a vendor's quarterly target in one hand and a partner's business challenge in the other, and find the path that moves both forward.

My approach to work has always been shaped by a stubborn attention to detail — deliberate over hasty, precise over approximate. In a channel role where the margin between a well-managed relationship and a lost one is often invisible, that disposition tends to matter.

I've been an active AI practitioner since early 2023 — not as a trend-follower, but because the technology genuinely changes how I work. I run local inference models for document analysis, built internal tools with Python, and think carefully about how AI integrates into professional workflows without replacing the human judgment that makes channel work valuable. This gives me an informed, non-evangelical perspective on AI positioning that I bring directly to partner conversations.

I'm also a runner training toward a marathon goal, a board game designer by occasional hobby, and a committed practitioner of digital minimalism — which in an industry saturated with noise and notifications is, I suspect, a competitive advantage.

Current Focus

  • Dell Technologies — Italian channel GTM
  • AI-enabled endpoint positioning for Italian SMB and mid-market
  • Modern workplace and managed services attach strategies
  • Partner pipeline development — Italy

Interests & Adjacent Skills

  • Analog & digital photography (Leica Q, Pentax MX)
  • Python scripting and workflow automation
  • Local AI inference and RAG systems
  • Retrocomputing
  • Running — marathon target in progress
  • Japanese philosophy: ikigai, wabi-sabi

Education & Certifications

  • GTDC Diploma in Technology Distribution
  • ISC2 CC — Certified in Cybersecurity (Foundation)
  • Apple Certified Support Professional
  • Business Development Foundations — LinkedIn Learning
  • Dell Technologies partner program certifications
  • HPE Sales Certified — multiple product tracks

Based in

  • Milan area, Italy (Energy Park, Vimercate)
  • Field coverage: Northern & Central Italy

Get in Touch

Open to conversations with vendor partners, distributors, and organisations building serious channel capability in the Italian and Southern European market.