Desmond returns as Exclusive strengthens executive team

Exclusive Networks is starting the year on the front foot by making several appointments to bulk out its senior management team across the globe.

Not only is the firm welcoming back Barrie Desmond after a year’s sabbatical, but it has also hired former Gigamon executive Gaerard Allison. Desmond will step into a senior vice-president of marketing and communications role, and Allison will take up the senior vice-president of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) position. The distributor has also introduced Brad Gray as senior vice-president of Asia-Pacific (APAC), and Scott Lewis as senior vice-president of the Americas.

Before stepping back for a year, Desmond had spent seven years at Exclusive Networks and has many years’ experience in the channel.

Desmond said that the channel player still had a major role to play in disrupting the market and introducing technologies that would put resellers in a position to meet ever-evolving customer needs.

“I have been like a bear hibernating in a cave, but I’ve come out to find that there are still salmon left to catch,” he said. “I want to lead the charge from the front again, and disruption is a journey, not a destination. I want to change the narrative from being about value-add to value creation.”

Desmond added that Exclusive Networks still operated with flexibility that large multinationals could not match and local rivals could not mimic.

Olivier Breittmayer, CEO of Exclusive Networks, said that the company had turned to “experienced operators” to help drive the business forward in the new decade.

“Their arrival coincides with an exciting period of ongoing business transformation and innovation as we continue to scale up and optimise many of our operational processes for renewed growth in disruptive service offerings, product portfolios and business models,” he said.

Executive’s new EMEA executive vice-president, Gaerard Allison, said joining the firm now gives him the opportunity to be part of it’s next stage of growth. His career spans three decades and includes time at both Gigamon and Juniper Networks.

“There is an opportunity as the only VAD [value-added distributor] on a global platform, and as we continue to grow we can give value to partners and vendors,” he said.

Allison said his first task was to spend a couple of months hitting the road across the EMEA region to talk to resellers and vendors about what they wanted Exclusive to deliver.

All of the new appointments will report into Andy Travers, executive vice-president for worldwide sales and marketing. “Our global footprint is significant and continually expanding, which emphasises the need for strong leadership at all levels,” he said.

“Their vast experience, knowledge and skills will be a tremendous asset to Exclusive, our partners and our people as we continue to scale the business into a new decade.”