phloxii - STOCK.ADOBE.COM
Channel round-up: Who’s gone where?
The country might have been in lockdown for the past few weeks, but that has not stopped the hires continuing across the industry
Despite the lockdown and constant talk of this being the “new normal”, there are still some familiar things happening, such as people across the channel starting new jobs.
Over the past couple of weeks, there have been a few personnel moves that caught the eye.
Consenna
The firm has made a couple of appointments designed to keep the company grwing. Nora Wicks has come onboard as the firm’s second client director. She was most recently at Added Dimension. Helping her on the company familiarisation tour will be Kirsty Thompson, who steps into the newly created role of service delivery manager.
“We’ve enjoyed sustained growth with both established and new customers, which is testament to the deep understanding that our team possesses and appetite to realise greater employee potential. To maintain and extend this level of insight, however, requires us to continue investing in the team,” said Trevor Evans, managing director at Consenna.
IRIS Software Group
The firm has given Chris Smith the chance to make a difference as its new chief sales officer. He has a CV that spans two decades, including time as vice-president and general manager EMEA for Harman International, an $8bn subsidiary of Samsung, and group international development director of DCC Exertis, a $7bn distributor and service provider.
Elona Mortimer-Zhika, CEO of IRIS Software Group, said: “Chris’s great track record of developing and managing highly successful sales organisations, which turn successful business relationships into long-term partnerships, will play a key role in helping our customers benefit from the IRIS portfolio of products and services in the years ahead.”
Extreme Networks
The vendor has given Wes Durow the chance to bring some fresh thinking to the chief marketing officer role. He will lead the channel, field, product, and digital marketing teams, reporting to Norman Rice, chief operating officer at Extreme Networks. Most recently he was CMO at Mitel for the last five years.
“We’re excited and honored to welcome Wes to our team. His leadership and commitment to execution will help us drive our global marketing and channel efforts, accelerate our alignment with global shifts in demand, and elevate our vision of cloud-driven networking,” said Rice.
Qumulo
The hybrid cloud file data service player has created a fresh role of chief revenue officer to help drive revenue growth and announced the first holder of that position is Craig Bumpus. He has more than 27 years on his CV, with roles including channel development and sales enablement.
Prior to joining the company, he was CRO at UiPath, a cloud-based SaaS leader in robotic process automation.
“Qumulo continues to invest in building a world-class executive leadership team with the right expertise, experience and tenacity to guide the company in its next stage of growth,” said Bill Richter, president and CEO at Qumulo.
Apptio
The technology cost platform player has landed an ex-Google cloud engineering leader, Abuna Demoz, to come on board as its vice-president of engineering. He will oversee the company’s Cloudability and Planning products, and report directly to Apptio’s chief product and technology officer, Scott Chancellor.
“We are very excited to welcome Abuna to our senior leadership team as we continue to rapidly expand the capabilities of our market-leading hybrid and multi-cloud financial management products,” said Chancellor. “Abuna is, without question, one of the preeminent leaders in our industry, and his expertise, coupled with his proven track record of execution, uniquely positions him to significantly accelerate the value we deliver to our customers.”
Quest
Patrick Nichols has been appointed CEO. He was formerly boss at Corel Corporation and comes on board with a brief to help the firm grow. Mike Kohlsdorf, who preceded Nichols as CEO, will transition to his primary role as President of Francisco Partners Consulting.
“Quest is poised for exciting growth in all areas of the business, including its vast solutions portfolio,” said Kohlsdorf. “Patrick’s clear vision for customer engagement, employee success and product innovation will not only enrich the Quest experience but allow us to adopt new and best practices as needed during an uncharted period in our global history.”
Cybersec Innovation Partners Limited (CIP)
A CV including time at Microsoft, Lloyds, KPMG, IBM, Barclays and more recently Aviva was one of the standout qualities of Rob Earl, who has become the firm’s latest CTO.
“CIP have a unique and compelling proposition that the cybersecurity world needs right now to restore digital trust. I was hugely impressed by their expertise and ambition. It’s great to be part of the team,” he said.
Truespeed
South West full fibre infrastructure provider and ISP has turned to a former KCOM executive, Henry West, to become its commercial director. Henry joins Truespeed from fibre network aggregator FluidOne, where he spent 18 months as director of channel sales. Prior to that he spent 12 years at communications and IT services provider KCOM, most recently as head of channel sales.
“Having grown up in Somerset and spent most of my working life based in the South West, I am passionate about helping local businesses to thrive. I have been following Truespeed’s growth with interest and share its community-first ethos. My immediate task will be to review and expand the firm’s business portfolio so that we can offer businesses and IT resellers of all shapes and sizes the right digital springboard for their needs – both during these challenging times and in the future,” he said.
Atlas Cloud
The managed service player has appointed Nigel Redwood as non-executive chairman. The firm will be able to pick his brains and take advantage of his extensive industry knowledge thanks to his 17 years board experience at a number of MSPs.
“Atlas Cloud is at an extremely exciting time in its story that resonates strongly with my own industry experience,” said Redwood. “The chance to work closely with a team that shares the same ethos to a company we started 20 years ago is a great opportunity for me on a personal level. I believe that the next five years in this industry will be very interesting and it is a privilege to support the team in both fulfilling and exceeding its ambitious business plan in these times.”
Exertis
The channel player has appointed Vishal Chhatralia to the newly created role of chief digital officer, reporting to both Tim Griffin, managing director, DCC Technology and Paul Bryan, managing director Exertis UK&I.
He joins from Electrocomponents (known as RS Components) where he spent 15 years in senior roles across category management and digital, most recently as global senior vice-president for innovation.
“Exertis has clearly grown exponentially over the past few years and driving digital innovation and transformation globally is a key strategy. I am looking forward to the challenge of taking the business on a digital journey to exploit the opportunities that exist across sales, customer service and marketing to create a world class customer experience,” he said.
