Tech Data names former Westcon leader Wendy O'Keeffe as Australia and New Zealand boss

Tech Data has appointed former Westcon regional leader Wendy O'Keeffe as its country general manager, Australia and New Zealand, the role previously filled by Darren Adams.

O'Keeffe is a veteran of the distribution scene, having worked with Ingram Micro precursor Tech Pacific then spending 15 years with Westcon before departing in 2016.

She joined the board of Dicker Data as an independent non-executive director at the start of this year and yesterday Dicker announced she was stepping down to take "a full-time executive role with another organisation".

William Chu, president, Asia Pacific at Tech Data, said: "Australia and New Zealand present a great opportunity for Tech Data and we are excited to welcome a talented leader like Wendy to the team.

"With Wendy at the helm, we are confident we can take the ANZ business to new heights. She has proven ability leading complex channel organisations, both in Australia and across the region, as well as extensive experience in next-generation technologies. Our team will benefit from her knowledge, passion and innovative mindset," Chu added.

O'Keeffe steps into the role vacated by Darren Adams in July 2017 soon after Tech Data closed its acquisition of Avnet Technology Services.

Michael Costigan, Tech Data's Asia-Pacific vice president, marketing, education and vendor management, was serving as interim leader and will now hand over to O'Keeffe.

Tech Data this week announced the appointment of Pia Broadley as its new director of sales and operations for Australian and New Zealand. Broadley joined from global Microsoft partner Insight, and had also worked for Express Data and then Dicker Data.

In September, Tech Data appointed former Ingram Micro general manager David Charlton as its new director of business innovation, while farewelling director of cloud services and strategic growth Winston Wong, who has taken a role at VMware.

It's been a case of consolidation and management musical chairs across major distributors.

Avnet was acquired by Tech Data in 2016, Westcon-Comstor was part-acquired by Synnex Corp this year and Dicker Data acquired Express Data in 2014.

Westcon-Comstor is now run by David Gage – who previously led Express Data until it was acquired by Dicker Data – who in March 2017 stepped into the role of Australian managing director, a position once held by O'Keeffe.