NETXGEN is returning to a vendor-first strategy, where sales, vendor management, sales support, technical support, and channel marketing will all be located in a single team.
The company said that the realignment doesn’t take away from a focus on partners, but means that going forward, NEXTGEN will sign a vendor contract to better align with partners’ strategies and supporting their go-to-market in ANZ.
To support a refocus on core vendors that want and need increased engagement and support, NEXTGEN will be rationalising its relationships with around 15 vendors over the course of this month.
The new team will be led by Wendy O’Keeffe, who takes over as VP of sales and marketing across Australia & New Zealand.
The company said she will ensure a “fluid, disciplined, aggressive, data driven, and holistic” sales motion for NEXTGEN’s vendors into the channel partners, as well as ensuring that its services model, incorporating lead and demand generation (oSpace), digital marketing (Elastic Digital), CyberLAB, and cloud economics consulting (Optima), are embraced and well positioned in the market.
O'Keeffe was most recently GTM leader of the company's CONNECT initiative, previously having served as EVP and MD of NEXTGEN Asia when she joined in August 2020.
Prior to this, she was the GM of ANZ for Tech Data and EVP of Asia-Pacific and MD of ANZ for Westcon Group.
In addition to O’Keeffe, there are another 10 executives that will be promoted into new customer facing roles.
These include Lynne Jeffery, NEXGEN’s MD NZ who will assume an ANZ role as VP strategic partnerships and alliances; Steve Smith, who’s promoted to GM NZ; Mick Lehmann, who reverts to director of government based in Canberra; and Telstra’s Ryan James, who’s joined the company as director of telco and GSIs based in Melbourne.
In addition, James Walters will be heading to the USA into a global opportunity with Exclusive Networks.
“NEXTGEN’s success was built on this strategy of vendor focus around next generation enterprise class technologies,” the company said.
“Over the past couple of years we’ve pivoted away from this and created separate sales & vendor management teams but as the factors that drove that decision have now left, we are returning to a vendor first strategy.”
The company said that it has grown 20 per cent so far this calendar year.
This realignment will ensure “continued market leadership, innovation, growth, and value for our vendors and partners”.
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