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Channel moves: Who’s gone where?
There have been recent moves of note at IBM, Agilitas IT Solutions, LG Business Solutions, Dragos, Ivanti,Unit4, Exabeam, SmartBear and Aryaka
Firms across the channel have started the year recruiting and promoting talent to drive growth. Experience continues to be valued, with a range of moves being sealed over the past week. There were several examples of CEO transition plans being enacted as fresh leadership was ushered in for 2025.
IBM
Big Blue announced that Leon Butler has been named general manager for IBM in the UK & Ireland. His career spans more than two-and-a-half decades, with spells at IBM and Oracle. For the past couple of years, he has been IBM vice-president, responsible for data and artificial intelligence (AI) sales worldwide. He succeeds Nicola Hodson, who will become chair for IBM in the UK and Ireland.
“Leon has a wealth of technology industry leadership experience with a focus on sales and client delivery,” said Ana Paula Assis, senior vice-president of EMEA and growth markets at IBM. “A strong UK and Ireland business is critical for IBM. Leon, together with Nicola as chair, will help to serve our clients’ needs in automation, data and hybrid cloud with AI integrated throughout.”
Agilitas IT Solutions
The firm has given the chief financial officer role to Kirsty Walker, who was recently at Wincanton where she was senior commercial finance manager.
“To be a part of Agilitas’ as it embarks on its growth strategy is a fantastic opportunity. It is a pioneering business and I have huge admiration for the knowledge, experience and passion that exists across the organisation,” she said.
LG Business Solutions
The vendor has welcomed David Jackson as UK head of IT solutions and sales. He will lead the sales team across consumer and B2B IT solutions, covering monitors, laptops, cloud and medical displays.
“David is a highly experienced sales leader with a proven track record, he will propel LG’s IT division forward during this period of accelerated growth,” says Charles Choi, UK president of LG Business Solutions. “We’re committed to delivering high-quality IT products to meet business needs in multiple industries – and David’s appointment will help us to make sure life’s good during a period of fast-moving innovation.”
Unit4
The cloud ERP specialist has indicated that there is a change of CEO from Mike Ettling to Simon Paris, who was formerly CEO of Finastra. Ettling, who has led the firm for the past six years, will hand over the reins at the end of the month.
Morgan Seigler, managing director at TA Associates, Unit4’s majority investor, said: “Mike has been an exceptional leader, and we are grateful for his tremendous contributions. We believe Simon’s leadership, vision and experience will ensure a natural transition and help drive Unit4’s continued success.”
Exabeam
The security player has rolled out the red carpet to welcome Craig Patterson as its global channel chief to drive collaboration within the channel ecosystem across IMETA, Europe, LATAM, APAC and North American regions. His CV stretches over a couple of decades, with experience at the likes of Aryaka Networks and Lumen Technologies.
“Craig’s proven ability to scale global partner programmes make him the ideal leader to drive our global channel strategy as we aim to capitalise on our momentum post-merger,” said Chris O’Malley, CEO of Exabeam. “His strategic approach to channel development, coupled with his cyber security experience, will be invaluable as we continue to expand our partner ecosystem and deliver industry-leading security analytics solutions through our channel-first strategy.”
Ivanti
The firm has made a CEO transition, with current COO Dennis Kozak being named CEO of Ivanti as part of a planned change in leadership. He succeeded Jeff Abbott, who remains on the company’s board of directors.
“Dennis has led our sales, marketing and operations organisations through a period of rapid expansion with four acquisitions, delivering on our vision of the market’s first purpose-built solution for CIOs and CISOs – all while generating tremendous SaaS growth,” said Abbott. “I am stepping down with great confidence in Dennis as Ivanti’s next CEO. He understands our customers’ desired business outcomes and has built a strong go-to-market model to consistently drive customer success.”
Aryaka
The SASE specialist has promoted Vidyaranya Maddi to chief customer officer and hired Scott Fanning, formerly of Palo Alto Networks, as vice-president of security product management.
“Today marks a significant step forward in Aryaka’s journey to deliver secure, dependable and performant applications,” said Shailesh Shukla, CEO of Aryaka. “Maddi’s promotion to chief customer officer underscores Aryaka’s dedication to fostering a customer-centric culture and delivering superior value to our global customers.”
Dragos
The security player has appointed Ekta Singh-Bushell as Dragos’s first chief operating officer. She has been chair of the Audit Committee on Dragos’s board of directors.
“I’ve had the opportunity to see Ekta’s transformative leadership first-hand on Dragos’s Board, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome her to our executive leadership team at a pivotal time for the company,” said Robert M. Lee, CEO and co-founder of Dragos.
SmartBear
The software quality and visibility solutions specialist has announced a leadership transition plan. Dan Faulkner, the firm’s chief product officer, is becoming CEO. Frank Roe, who has led SmartBear to significant growth over the past five years, will transition from CEO to a strategic adviser role.
“I want to thank Frank for his leadership over the past five years, and I’m honoured to step into the role of CEO at such an exciting time for SmartBear,” said Faulkner. “We’re helping our customers to solve their toughest challenges faster and more efficiently while delivering their best work to their customers. I’m deeply committed to continuing this mission by fostering collaboration with our employees, customers and partners.”
