Pax8 has promoted Maria Armstrong to lead the Pax8 Academy in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
Armstrong replaces James Davis, who has taken up a role as a strategic coach at Pax8 APAC.
In her new role, Armstrong is tasked with guiding the Academy's six coaches in region as well as developing a roadmap, training journeys and APAC-specific content to support partners.
"I'm managing the team, which is super exciting. I have a background in managing teams, and that's my passion area," Armstrong told CRN Australia.
"I've been with Pax8 for two years now as a sales coach in the [Academy] team, and I love it. I love the team, I love the culture of practice and moving into this management role was something that I really wanted to do, and they've given me the opportunity."
Armstrong has 25 years' experience in the Australian IT industry, having previously served as CEO of SMBiT Professionals for over three years.
She has served as vice chair of CompTIA's Australia and New Zealand Executive Council since February 2023, having been reappointed for the position for 2024 in January.
Armstrong said she's looking forward to helping prepare Pax8 partners for possible regulation.
"My big concern with our industry is that we have no regulation...it's the thing that I see coming; we're one of the last non regulated professional industries," she said.
"If we look at the smaller MSPs in our industry, there's no guidance...for them. So I see our responsibility as an Academy team is to educate those partners to get them to a point where, when the regulation comes from government, they can survive that regulation."
"We train partners in operational best practices, and if we're training them, then when the regulation comes, they're already doing those things; they're not going to have to take a huge leap."
"I'm very excited [about the role]. It's really going to be a huge growth time. For our Academy team, we have a huge task ahead of us. I'm excited to build our team and to train the partners."
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