AWS local channel chief Davinia Simon jumps to channel partner Stax

Amazon Web Services ANZ channel chief Davinia Simon has left the company to join Sydney-based AWS partner, cloud management platform vendor Stax.

Simon joins Stax as head of sales and growth markets alongside two other hires, as the company looks to ramp up its international expansion plans. The other hires were Versent’s Amanda Iwasaki as head of operations and Prayna Prasad as head of marketing.

The hire also comes following the hiring of former AWS ANZ managing director Paul Migliorini as the new chief executive of sibling company Versent, replacing founder Thor Essman.

Along with the new hires, Essman also joins Stax as its new managing director, working closely with chief product officer and co-founder James Coxon.

Stax is looking to expand operations into New Zealand and Southeast Asia by Q1 2022, following a year of growth that saw 175 percent more revenue and reaching 60 full-time staff.

“Our philosophy is to constantly challenge the IT industry to bring greater discipline, automation, craftsmanship and delivery excellence to enterprise technology. The Stax platform is a dynamic symbol of this, helping our customers drive cloud outcomes with more impact, lower risk, and lower cost,” Essman said.

“I’m thrilled to welcome Davinia, Amanda and Prayna to the team, to help us further this vision and how we deliver it to market.

“Davinia understands AWS customers and partners better than anyone. She knows the pain points they can experience when deploying cloud infrastructure and the innovation that can be achieved when the foundation is built right. I look forward to expanding Stax to new channels and markets, under her leadership.”

Simon was appointed AWS’ ANZ head of channel and alliances in 2020 following Corrie Briscoe's promotion to the vendor's Asia Pacific and Japan business. She joined AWS in 2018 as senior manager for AWS enterprise.

Before AWS, Simon also worked in variou sales roles at Adobe, recruitment firm ProGrad, Celsius Graduate Recruitment, Pareto Law and AAA Marketing.

Speaking on her new role, Simon said, “I am delighted to join Stax and hope to accelerate Stax culture for innovation. I fundamentally believe in the crucial and unique role Stax plays in helping customers attain the most from their AWS environments.”

“Stax is a sophisticated and effortless solution to an inherently complex global problem. Based on all the current success metrics, Stax undoubtedly has a global trajectory ahead of it and I’m excited to be a part of the team to take this business to the next stage.”

Stax was established within Versent under Essman and Coxon’s direction, and was later spun off as a standalone entity. The company’s platform handles the fundamental foundations to help customers migrate into AWS. The solution is an ‘off-the-shelf’ offering that also supports industry-specific regulatory requirements and can be customised to match an customer’s individual preferences.