Credit: Dreamstime
Former Citadel Group CEO appointed to Archtis board
On 13 February, it was announced that Canberra-based information security services provider Archtis had appointed Dr Miles Jakeman, co-founder and former chief executive officer (CEO) of Citadel Group, as a non-executive director to the company’s board.
Upon his appointment, Jakeman said he has known the team at Archtis for many years and was an advocate of its Kojensi security product.
“I am excited to be joining the Archtis board and look forward to working closely with the team in 2020 and beyond to deliver on the huge market opportunity,” he said.
Stephen Smith, Archtis chairman, added at the time that Jakeman is a “valuable asset” to the board.
“Miles brings a strong network of contacts and depth of knowledge to the Archtis board, particularly in his proven experience as the former CEO and founder of Citadel,” Smith said.
Avaya went on the hunt for a new A/NZ MD amid Peter Chidiac departure
In mid-February, it emerged that Avaya A/NZ managing director Peter Chidiac had left the vendor after almost four years in the role.
While the unified comms vendor was seeking a replacement, Gerard O’Rourke took on the day-to-day operations of the company in the local market as acting managing director -- a role he continues to fill.
“Peter Chidiac has left Avaya to pursue other opportunities – we wish him well in his future endeavours,” Avaya said in a statement at the time.
In a post on LinkedIn, Chidiac said he was “currently taking a well deserved break after leading a major transformation.”
Chidiac joined Avaya in 2016, not long after the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in the US. Despite this, Chidiac said he managed to grow the business.
Prior to his stint at Avaya, Chidiac also worked for Truphone, Veridian Solutions and Nuance Communications.
Credit: archTIS
Riverbed appointed new APAC and A/NZ leaders
Later in February, network and application performance vendor Riverbed revealed it had appointed Frank Ong as its regional vice president of A/NZ along with Richard Steranka as APJ leader.
Ong’s appointment followed the departure of Keith Buckley to Citrix in January. While Steranka replaced Bjorn Engelhardt, who moved on to Forcepoint.
Ong retained responsibility for driving the strategic operations, planning and growth of Riverbed in A/NZ, reporting into Steranka.
Prior to taking on the role with Riverbed, Ong was previously the vice president of Idemia’s Australian operations and has also served as the managing director for Oracle Philippines.
Steranka was previously the vice president of sales for Riverbed and previously worked for McAfee as its vice president of global channel sales and operations.
HPE plucked new channel chief from NTT ranks
At the beginning of March, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) South Pacific said it had appointed former NTT technology solutions general manager Julie Barbieri to the role of general manager for partners, alliances and service providers, following Marina Fronek's departure late last year.
Based in Melbourne, Barbieri now reports directly to vice president and managing director Stephen Bovis, with a focus on the company’s everything-as-a-service model and partner route-to-market strategy.
Taking over from Fronek, who stepped down in November 2019, Barbieri was slated to start the role from 6 April 2020.
Bovis said Barbieri would be “an integral and valuable asset to the leadership team.”
“She has proven her ability to deliver on business outcomes, effectively lead and develop her team, and proactively build critical relationships, and I am delighted to bring her into the HPE family,” Bovis said.
Credit: HPE South Pacific
Canon Australia tapped company veteran to tackle local channel ops
Also in early March, Canon Australia appointed Masayuki ‘Mike’ Murase, a veteran of three decades with the company, as its new senior director for Business Information Solutions (BIS).
The new role sees Murase responsible for the company’s overall leadership and engagement with Canon's channel partners in the local market.
Murase has relocated to Australia for the new role after more than 30 years of experience in the Office Imaging Products Group at Canon across the US and Japan. He is now tasked with growing Canon Australia’s business products and services.
Most recently, Murase held the role of general manager of Office Imaging Product Operations at Canon’s headquarters in Japan.
"I'll be devoting a lot of time to our partners to continue building on the strong channel momentum created by the team,” Murase said in a statement. “Our channel partners are integral to driving value for customers so it’s my priority to continue strengthening these relationships.
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