Arista picks Ericsson talent to lead ANZ business

Data centre and campus networking specialist Arista Networks has appointed Garry Turner to run its ANZ operations and expanded offerings to local partners.

Turner joined the company in November from Ericsson, where he was IP domain sales manager. Prior to that, he held roles at Badu Networks, Luminate wireless and Compass-EOS.

The company has also increased its local channel resources to implement rebates, deal registration, subsidised certifications and support. The vendor has also introduced marketing funding and digital marketing support.

“Arista will be making a lot more noise in the market, and we believe that the combination of increased market awareness around our best of breed solutions, combined with access and support provided through the new channel program will enable partners to differentiate themselves with this competitive, high margin opportunity,” Turner said.

The company’s local distribution partner Nextgen has been working with the vendor for eight years and CEO John Walters said that the vendor “provides a modern approach to networking that complements our enterprise software and cloud solutions”.

“Arista was the second vendor we partnered with way back in 2012 and it’s great to see the full potential of the relationship coming to maturity. Arista is expanding their solutions offering, their people, their resources, and importantly, their commitment to the channel,” he said.

The increased focus on local partners follows two acquisitions Arista made in 2020, with the stated goal of expanding its technical capabilities.

In February, Arista acquired Big Switch Networks, known for its Big Cloud Fabric, a data centre switching fabric that offers network automation and visibility for software-defined data centres and cloud-native applications. It was also known for its Big Monitoring Fabric, which provides hybrid cloud visibility and security.

In September the company made another purchase, Awake Security. Arista said the company's AI-based platform would compliment its cloud networking technology.