Former BlueJeans channel chief Mario Hilmi jumps to UC solutions firm ELB

Sydney-based integrated communications specialist ELB has hired former BlueJeans Network channel chief Mario Hilmi to lead its sales and marketing.

Hilmi was responsible for building BlueJeans’ channel strategy for the Asia-Pacific region when he joined the video conferencing vendor in August 2016. Prior to BlueJeans, he worked for the likes of Avaya and Polycom in channel roles.

He took a break from the industry in March, but returned last month to ELB as general manager for sales and marketing. He will also be responsible for ELB Accelerate, the company’s EX-CX strategic plan.

“Mario is well-known for his impactful approach and we’re thrilled to have him leading our Australia-based team as we gear up for our next phase of growth,” said ELB founder and director Marie Bolton.

“His appointment is strategically timed to support our aggressive growth strategy in Australia which includes continued investment in people, facilities and technology.

Bolton added that ELB is preparing to establish customer experience centres across Australia to showcase collaborative environments. ELB also plans to double its headcount over the next two years.

“Mario’s energy and enthusiasm are pivotal to leading our growing team and creating a positive workplace culture and we’re delighted to have him on board.”

Hilmi will also spearhead ELB’s new senior leadership team which includes new hires Sean Hooper as CFO and Sharonika Camplin as head of marketing. He said he intends on making more hires in key sales territories, as well as develop new vendor partnerships.

“Having the benefit of working in the vendor space, I’ve seen some pivotal shifts in customer demands take place. CIO’s and IT managers are finding it hard to navigate the complex and busy unified communications landscape of today while also preparing for the ever-changing future needs of their workforce. I haven’t seen an organisation really solve the issue until now and that’s the reason I chose to join ELB.

“With the move to cloud-based services, the market has moved to a point where customers today shouldn’t need expensive consultants or big project teams to be able to collaborate easily across their organisation. ELB’s value add comes through the ongoing investments to build an innovative, simple and affordable one-stop solution across the customer lifecycle backed by 24/7 Australian support and that is regardless of the technology. It’s a huge change in the way service offerings are provided today to the Australian market and we see a lot of potential.”

ELB, formerly known as Electroboard Solutions, was founded in Sydney in 1986 as a distributor for electronic whiteboards and has since grown into a global company with offices in the US and Canada, offering a spectrum of collaboration solutions.