The top channel job shifts of 2021 so far

The year has only started but the IT channel has seen plenty of execs change roles. We've compiled all the job shifts we've reported since 2021 started in this photo gallery.

Click the navigation arrows on each photo or use the arrow keys on your keyboard to scroll through our list.

Know about a key local appointment that we missed? Email us at crneditors@crn.com.au

Commvault names new APJ boss

6 January

Data management vendor Commvault named Rachel Ler as its new vice president and general manager of the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region.

Ler was promoted to lead the region from her previous role as the company’s area vice president for South East Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea. She will be based in Singapore.

She joined the company in April 2020 from Dell where she was general manager of enterprise preferred sales, Asia Pacific and Japan. Prior to Dell, Ler was regional director at Nimble Storage, then joined HPE after the storage vendor was acquired by the tech giant in October 2017.

Read the full story here.

Talend appoints new ANZ boss

6 January

Data management software vendor Talend appointed former Blue Prism channel exec Mark Fazackerley as its new ANZ boss.

Fazackerley revealed the appointment on LinkedIn yesterday, taking the role of regional vice president for Australia and New Zealand.

“I’m delighted to tell you that I have accepted a role as RVP Australia and NZ at Talend, an exciting company with a fantastic market-leading product on a big growth curve,” Fazackerley’s LinkedIn post read.

“Given my years in analytics, the challenges Talend solutions address are dear to my heart. Look forward to getting my feet under the desk next week.”

Read the full story here.

Intel CEO Bob Swan to be replaced by VMware’s Pat Gelsinger

14 January

Intel CEO Bob Swan stepped down and was replaced by VMware leader Pat Gelsinger, ending a two-year tenure that was marked by strategy shifts and manufacturing issues.

Intel said Swan stepped down on 15 February and handed over the role to Gelsinger, VMware’s CEO of nearly nine years and a 30-year Intel veteran, who became the semiconductor giant’s eighth CEO in its 52-year history. Gelsinger also joined Intel’s board of directors.

The CEO shakeup comes after hedge fund Third Point gained a “significant stake” in the company and demanded the chipmaker explore strategic options, including selling off “failed acquisitions” and potentially its manufacturing operations, to regain technology leadership and recover from manufacturing struggles that have resulted in product delays.

Read the full story here.

Intuit Technologies hires channel veteran Bianca Pickett as CTO

21 January

Hobart-based managed services provider Intuit Technologies appointed channel veteran Bianca Pickett to the newly created role of chief technology officer.

The role was created as part of the company’s next phase of growth, with Pickett responsible for all services and engineering capability within the company.

Pickett joined on 11 January 2021 and is based in Melbourne.

Read the full story here.

Kaspersky names new Asia-Pacific boss

28 January

Security vendor Kaspersky appointed Chris Connell as its managing director in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

Connell was promoted from his previous role with the vendor as deputy vice president of global sales for the company.

Kaspersky at the time said he will continue to perform duties from his previous role and take on the local leadership mantle from the vendors regional headquarters in Singapore.

Read the full story here.

Insentra exec Robbie Upcroft to rejoin Microsoft Australia

28 January

Australian channel veteran Robbie Upcroft revealed he left IT services firm Insentra to return to Microsoft Australia.

Upcroft, who finished up as national partnership manager at the end of January, will be replaced by Zeena Skelly, who was hired out of Nextgen. Upcroft started at Microsoft on 1 February 2021 as partner development manager.

Upcroft revealed the move on LinkedIn, thanking his former employer for the past four years.

Read the full story here.

Cloud security vendor Bitglass names Wayne Neich as ANZ sales director

29 January

Cloud security vendor Bitglass named Wayne Neich as regional sales director for Australia and New Zealand.

The hire positioned Neich as the company’s lead exec in ANZ. He brings more than two decades of experience in the IT industry, having worked in leadership positions at organisations including Blue Coat Systems, Silver Peak and Nutanix.

Bitglass is a cloud-based secure web gateway and cloud access security broker, sitting between users and cloud apps to monitor activity and enforce security policies.

Read the full story here.

Hills CEO David Lenz to depart

2 February

Distributor Hills Ltd announced that chief executive and managing director David Lenz will retire later this year.

Lenz will depart after five years as CEO, but will remain with Hills Ltd on an interim capacity until a replacement has been named.

“It has been a privilege to lead Hills over the past five years as we have worked to transform the company,” Lenz said in a statement to shareholders.

“Notwithstanding the issues and challenges the business has experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is well positioned to drive future growth with a sharpened focus and a strong balance sheet.”

Read the full story here.

AWS CEO Andy Jassy to replace Jeff Bezos as Amazon chief

3 February

Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy – credited as the ‘father’ of cloud computing – will become the new CEO of parent company Amazon.com when founder Jeff Bezos steps down in the third quarter.

Amazon made the announcement in its fourth-quarter earnings report issued after the closing bell today.

Jassy, who joined Amazon right out of Harvard Business School, started and grew AWS into the dominant leader of the public cloud computing industry.

Bezos will transition to the role of executive chair at Amazon.

Read the full story here.

Howard Fyffe exits Veritas to lead Vast Data in Australia and New Zealand

8 February

Departing Veritas ANZ managing director Howard Fyffe joined all-flash universal storage solutions vendor Vast Data, where he will lead the four-year-old company’s operations in Australia and New Zealand.

Fyffe said Vast Data had existing customers and revenues in the ANZ region, and that his appointment would be an opportunity to build on that. He will remain based in Sydney.

The executive said Vast Data appeared on his radar in 2020 while pursuing new opportunities. He was introduced to the company through a former colleague and an opportunity subsequently arose to help grow the business in ANZ.

Read the full story here.

Former AWS exec named as CEO of cloud services startup

9 February

Former AWS APAC professional services director Paul O’Rourke joined Australian cloud services start-up, Digital Renewal (DigiRen), as CEO.

Over his seven years at AWS, O’Rourke moved from leading professional services across Australia and New Zealand to the whole APAC region. Prior to AWS, he worked for Accenture in their technology consulting business.

In total, O’Rourke has over 25 years experience leading cloud transformation and consulting practices.

DigiRen was founded in 2019, targeting the market for cloud operating models from commercial enterprise and public sector organisations.

Read the full story here.

VMware ANZ channel chief Neels Du Plooy departs

9 February

VMware’s long-serving channel chief Neels Du Plooy left the vendor after close to nine years, four and a half of those as head of the local channel.

VMware confirmed the exec’s departure in a statement.

“Neels Du Plooy, Director of Channels for Australia and New Zealand, has left VMware,” the company said.

“VMware wishes Neels the best in his future endeavours and thanks him for his commitment to our partners during his time with the business.

Read the full story here.

SAP names new regional boss

10 February

German software giant SAP promoted Paul Marriott to lead the company in the Asia Pacific and Japan region.

Promoted from the role of regional head of operations, his remit will cover Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia and will report to the company’s global customer success exec Scott Russell.

“SAP has a heritage of over 30 years in Asia, helping over 46,000 enterprises big and small to be successful,” Russell said.

“I am confident that Paul’s tenure with customers in APJ as well as his relentless focus on delivering customer value and outcomes will help enterprises accelerate their next phase of digitization.”

Read the full story here.

Ingram Micro hires Cisco's Rod Lazarus to lead new cybersecurity practice

16 February

Ingram Micro appointed Rod Lazarus as its new general manager for cybersecurity, tasked to lead its dedicated cybersecurity practice.

The distributor announced last year that it plans to build a dedicated cybersecurity team to help channel partners move beyond volume sales of standard security products, like firewall and endpoint protection, and pivot into delivering custom solutions to meet specific needs of end users.

Ingram Micro head of advanced solutions Brett Armstrong said Lazarus is responsible for “all things security” and will build a team to support resellers.

Armstrong added that Lazarus’ hiring and the plans to form a security team came following sustained demand for cybersecurity solutions, particularly as businesses across Australia rapidly pivot to the cloud.

Read the full story here.

Arrow ECS ANZ's Andrew Assad departs

19 February

Arrow ECS Australia and New Zealand general manager Andrew Assad departed the company after a 16-year stint.

Assad departed Arrow in mid-February, with no confirmation of a replacement as of today.

Arrow Electronics vice president of global communications John Hourigan confirmed the move in a statement.

"We wish Andrew well in his future endeavors," Hourigan told CRN.

Read the full story here.

Lenovo DCG ANZ channel chief Frank Eagleton to depart 

23 February

Lenovo Data Centre Group is now looking to hire a new channel chief for Australia and New Zealand, with Frank Eagleton's departure in March.

Eagleton, who was named head of channel for ANZ in 2019, left Lenovo in March after 13 years with the company in various roles across Australia and South Africa.

Lenovo DCG is continuing its search for a replacement, including a public job posting on LinkedIn. In the meantime, channel sales manager Bert Noah is filling in for Eagleton as the key contact for channel partners in Australia.

Read the full story here.

Capgemini appoints former Deloitte exec as new MD

2 March

Kaylene O’Brien was appointed as Capgemini’s new managing director for Australia and New Zealand.

O’Brien moved to her new role from Deloitte, where she was the managing partner of Deloitte Consulting Australia and part of its global and Asia Pacific consulting executive team.

She succeeded Olaf Pietschner who, earlier this year, was named chief executive of Capgemini’s Asia Pacific strategic business unit and member of the group executive committee.

Read the full story here.

Construction management vendor Procore hires Autodesk veteran Clare Wharrier to run global channel

18 March

US-headquartered construction management software vendor Procore Technologies will run its global channel program out of Australia.

The partner program will be run by newly appointed senior director of global channel Clare Wharrier, who is based in Sydney.

Wharrier, who joined Procore following a 16-plus year career at software giant Autodesk, is tasked to build and scale Procore’s first global channel program, as the company also continues expanding into Asia Pacific.

Read the full story here.

Telstra's channel chief to depart

19 March

Telstra's channel chief Nevash Pillay departed the role in June 2021 after 18 years with the company.

"After an incredible journey at Telstra, leading direct, indirect and technical sales teams, Nevash Pillay has decided to pause her career with Telstra Enterprise," a Telstra spokesperson said in a statement to CRN.

Pillay has led Telstra's Enterprise Partner Sales business since 2018, which experienced 23 percent year on year growth over the last four years, according to the telco.

Read the full story here.

AWS picks Tableau’s Adam Selipsky as new CEO

24 March

Amazon tapped Tableau CEO Adam Selipsky as the next CEO of its Amazon Web Services cloud computing business.

Selipsky, who previously served as vice president of marketing, sales and support for Seattle-based AWS until his 2016 move to Tableau, replaces founding AWS CEO Andy Jassy.

In February, it was announced that Jassy would replace Jeff Bezos as CEO of parent company Amazon beginning in the third quarter that starts in July.

Read the full story here.

WatchGuard names new ANZ regional director

25 March

Anthony Daniel was appointed as WatchGuard Technologies’ new Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands regional director, replacing Mark Sinclair.

Daniel was most recently a senior regional sales manager for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands at SolarWinds. Prior to that was a senior sales manager for Oracle in Australia.

Sinclair is leaving to pursue business interests outside of the IT industry.

Read the full story here.

TPG chairman David Teoh departs, company names Canning Fok as replacement

26 March

TPG Telecom announced that founder David Teoh has resigned as board chairman after 30 years with the company.

The telco appointed one-time Vodafone Hutchison board chairman Canning Fok as Teoh’s successor.

TPG chief executive Iñaki Berroeta said Teoh decided to resign after seeing the integration progressing well following last year’s merger between Vodafone Hutchison Australia and TPG.

Read the full story here.

Microsoft global channel chief Gavriella Schuster departs

31 March

In a shakeup of its partner ecosystem leadership, Microsoft named Rodney Clark as its new channel chief, replacing Gavriella Schuster, who exited the role after five years.

A 23-year Microsoft veteran, Clark has been leading Microsoft’s IoT and mixed reality sales for more than 3.5 years, most recently as corporate vice president, with responsibilities for building intelligent systems from edge to cloud and mixed reality capabilities, and driving sales and go-to-market execution with partners and customers. He also served as general manager of IoT for another four years.

Clark is no stranger to the partner ecosystem, having worked directly with partners for more than 15 of his years at Microsoft and directly with Schuster, he said.

Read the full story here.

Dell has a new channel sales leader

1 April

Dell Technologies confirmed the promotion of longtime Dell veteran Driss El Ougmani as the US$94 billion company’s new head of global channel and specialty sales.

Ougmani has been with the company for nearly two decades mainly in executive roles in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Effective immediately, Ougmani is now the new leader of Dell’s Global Channel, Alliances & OEM Specialty sales team.

“Driss has been with Dell for 18 years and was most recently vice president of the [Infrastructure Solutions Group] Data Center Presales Channel team for EMEA,” said Dell in a statement to CRN. “He also has extensive core sales leadership experience in enterprise and emerging markets. This move is another example of our commitment to drive strategic growth through the promotion of leaders with expertise across core, specialty, services and channel sales.”

Read the full story here.

Wipro selects channel exec Sarah Adam-Gedge as ANZ MD

7 April

Global systems integrator Wipro appointed former Avanade leader Sarah Adam–Gedge as managing director for Australia and New Zealand (ANZ).

Adam-Gedge has worked in project and service-based consultancies for more than 25 years across Australia and New Zealand, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America.

Prior to joining Wipro, she held various senior executive roles including managing director of Publicis Sapient Australia, managing director of Avanade Australia, managing partner and Vice President at IBM, managing partner at PwC and partner at Arthur Andersen.

Read the full story here.

Red Hat names Marjet Andriesse new APAC lead

7 April

Red Hat appointed Marjet Andriesse to lead its Asia Pacific business as the region’s new vice president and general manager.

Andriesse replaced Dirk-Peter van Leeuwen, who was named senior vice president and general manager of North America Commercial Sales at Red Hat.

In her new role, Andriesse is tasked to drive the next phase of growth for Red Hat in Asia-Pacific, through leading initiatives around the vendor’s open hybrid cloud technology. Like van Leeuwen, she reports to Red Hat executive vice president of global sales and services Larry Stack.

Read the full story here.

InfoTrust hires channel exec Keith Buckley as CEO

8 April

Australian security services firm InfoTrust appointed long-time tech executive Keith Buckley as its new chief executive officer.

Buckley will manage the company’s day-to-day operations and lead its growth strategy, while InfoTrust co-founders Dane Meah and Simon McKay will step into board positions.

The appointment comes following strong growth in InfoTrust’s core business, including the development of a new SaaS security platform, MyCISO.

MyCISO will be spun off as a new startup with Dane Meah at the helm, while Simon McKay will continue working for both companies in an “executive leadership” capacity.

Read the full story here.

Citrix hires Neels du Plooy as ANZ channel chief

8 April

Server and networking solutions vendor Citrix appointed channel veteran Neels du Plooy as its new ANZ director of channels and alliances.

du Plooy revealed the new role on LinkedIn, more than one month since departing VMware, where he was its long-time channel chief.

Citrix confirmed the appointment, with du Plooy tasked to lead the company’s channel strategy and partner ecosystem growth across the Trans-Tasman market. He will report to Citrix APJ vice president of channel Kathy Chen.

du Plooy replaces Brian McColm, who was promoted to ANZ director of sales, Northern, where he will lead the Citrix business in New South Wales, Queensland and New Zealand. McColm had been serving as Citrix’ ANZ director of channels since 2017.

Read the full story here.

Former VMware channel exec Kerrie-Anne Turner joins Telstra

9 April

Former local VMware channel executive Kerrie-Anne Turner resurfaced at Telstra shortly after departing the virtualisation vendor earlier this year.

Turner was named executive head for Telstra Enterprise for marketing and commercial, officially commencing this month.

Turner left VMware in February after five years at the company, last working as head of New Zealand, commercial business and channels ANZ.

Turner will lead Telstra Enterprise’s marketing and commercial steering group, which will develop and drive the company’s overall commercial strategy.

Read the full story here.