Cisco Australia names Tara Ridley as director of the partner business group

Cisco has appointed Tara Ridley as its new partner business group director, as Jason Brouwers takes on another role in the company.

Ridley will oversee all partner relationships and strategies for the network vendor across Australia and New Zealand. She will also lead the volume sales group with the goal of growing Cisco's SMB business.

Ridley joined Cisco 10 years ago as the account manager for Optus/Alphawest, and has been promoted several times over the years. She was regional sales manager for mid-enterprise, director of enterprise sales and, lastly, director of services sales for ANZ.

Prior to joining Cisco, she worked for nine years as a senior account manager at Hewlett-Packard. In 2004 she joined Macquarie Telecom as a senior account manager and was later promoted to national manager, NSW corporate sector.

"My Cisco career commenced in the partner organisation and I’m thrilled to be back working with partners, who are a critical part of everything we do," Ridley said.

Brouwers will now be responsible for the commercial sales business for Australia and New Zealand. He joined Cisco in 2000 and has held several roles including product specialist, enterprise account management, sales management in the commercial segment and, most recently, as the managing director of the ANZ partner business group. 

Brouwers said: "I’ve really enjoyed working with our partners across ANZ, building our relationships and joint go-to-market offers. Partners are critical to growth in our commercial business and I am committed to continuing those relationships. I’m looking forward to this new challenge and working closely with Tara in her role."