Dave Rosenberg, Westcon Group ANZ managing director
Westcon has appointed Dave Rosenberg to head the distributor’s Australian and New Zealand operations.
Rosenberg, who has been Westcon New Zealand’s MD since March 2012, came into the company via Westcon’s acquisition of Datastor in 2009, where he had been MD since 1999.
He is a well known and respected member of the New Zealand IT Channel community.
Westcon Group’s executive vice president, Asia-Pacific, Wendy O’Keefe, had nothing but praise for Rosenberg, laying much of the credit for the company’s growth in the New Zealand market place at his feet.
“He’s been running our offices for around five years, and has seen it grow from a small base to be the second to third largest distributor in New Zealand. The New Zealand business punches well above its weight, across the APAC business,” she said.
“He has strong business sense, strong relationships with vendors and strong relationships with partners… he’s an absolutely safe pair of hands.”
O'Keefe said A/NZ was waiting until the integration of SAP was complete before making the announcement.
He will start his role officially on August 1.
Rosenberg said, "It is a great opportunity for me. I have been in the industry for a reasonable period of time. I have a certain level of knowledge about my market. There will be a certain amount to be learned about the Australian market. There are similarities between the NZ and Australian markets, but there is also a lot of differences."
"As I start in the role I am trying not to go in with pre-determined ideas or judgement. The revenue from Australia is much bigger than NZ, but there are a less number of vendors than the NZ market. There is a concerted process to any new job. The good news though is that I have a great base to work off from in Australia."
He said he would be travelling between Sydney and NZ, probably spending around four days a week in Sydney, and around a day in NZ. That would be the case in the short to medium term. At this stage, he will still call Auckland home and hasn't made a decision about moving entirely.
"I have a strong leadership team in both countries to support me as well," Rosenberg said. "My first priority will be to spend time with the business, vendors, resellers and customers. We have got a global strategy and I would like to align with that as closely as possible. I would also like to simplify process in the region and ensure more consistency. I will continue to work towards those goals.
"SAP is going to take a fair share of time in the initial period. I am planning to finish the rollout and integration by the end of the fiscal year. Australia is much more prepared for the solution than NZ was, so I expect it to be smooth."
"We will be extending the Cloud programme that we started in NZ. We will continue to roll that out in Australia. I can't give firm timelines, but that is certainly on the agenda."
Westcon Group’s global CEO, Dolph Westerbos, has overseen the distributor's new three- to five-year plan, which alongside its optimisation of its ‘core vendor strategy' will focus on building out further channel services.
Westcon global purchased Intact Integrated Services in April – a provider of project support and managed services to ICT and the Cisco Channel, which is being integrated into the company’s offerings.
This will all fall under Rosenberg’s purview in A/NZ, including the launch of Westcon’s new Cloud platform – which was globally trialled under his watch in New Zealand. It is expected to launch in August, O’Keefe said.
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The company’s focus on channel services will see it investing further in that area, including a new channel services director, who will be named next week.
O’Keefe also said the company will be making a further three specific channel appointments across A/NZ.
