Verykios meditates as LAN gets new GM

Long-standing LAN Systems boss Nick Verykios has quit as GM of the distributor, replaced by former director of sales Wendy O'Keeffe.

Former director of operations Dave Corcoran has been promoted to chief finance and operations officer, replacing Andrew Blunden who has also quit.

Verykios told CRN that he decided not to renew his contract. Verykios had been with LAN for around five years. 'I was going to do it a year ago - I would never have made the decision if the company wasn't in good shape.'

When asked why he quit, Verykios said: 'You can't wrap your arms around a memory - you need to do something else.'

Verykios would spend some time off 'meditating and surfing.' He would be heading to a 'retreat' over the next few weeks and spend some time being a dad, he said. He expected to resurface somewhere in the IT industry soon.

Verykios took over as chief marketing and strategic development officer when LAN was acquired by The Westcon Group in April 2000, when company founder Scott Frew sold his shares and quit.

'The place is humming - the people that are going to take over are more than capable,' he said.

Meanwhile, O'Keeffe - who started at Westcon three years ago - said she had now been given the opportunity to take the company forward. 'As the general manager of LAN Systems, I look forward to engaging more closely with customers and partners, while continuing to provide informed and responsive service to the channel across established and newly emerging advanced technologies,' she said.

Robin Rindel, GM, Asia-Pacific at Westcon Group, confirmed that Verykios and Blunden had quit purely because they didn't want to renew their contracts. He said they had built a strong management team around them. 'It was always very clear who would succeed them - [and] from that perspective we were very fortunate,' he said.