Centrify appoints Lachlan McKenzie as country manager A/NZ

Software and Cloud-based security services provider, Centrify Corporation, has appointed Lachlan McKenzie as country manager A/NZ with the aim of boosting the company’s growth by recruiting new business partners and entering new market segments.

McKenzie, who for the past four years was one of the founding members of the Australian team for Zendesk, has extensive experience in sales channel development and building customer relationships.

His appointment is part of Centrify’s global move to recruit additional business partners, including those focused on Office 365, as Lachlan worked in channel while at Zendesk.

The appointment also coincides with Centrify’s move of its Australian head office from Brisbane to Melbourne, although it will retain technical capabilities in Queensland.

Centrify Corporation strengthens enterprise security by managing and securing user identities from cyber threats with its platform of integrated software and Cloud-based services.

Centrify senior director APAC sales, Niall King, said McKenzie had demonstrated a track record of rapidly building a business in Australia.

“Lachlan is a self-starter who over the past four years has built up the Australian business of Zendesk, a company that has rapidly evolved from a Silicon Valley start-up to a major SaaS provider and recently enjoyed a very successful IPO,” he said.

“We believe he brings the experience, the business networks and the motivation to grow strongly Centrify’s business in Australia and New Zealand.”

McKenzie joined Zendesk in 2011 as its first Australian salesman, and one of the first three employees in the APAC region. Since then, Zendesk’s Melbourne office has grown to more than 80 people. During the preceding three years, he held senior sales roles with Melbourne-based Identity Solutions and with Interlex Solutions.

McKenzie said a major focus of his new role was to identify and recruit additional business partners for Centrify. “Every Centrify sale is driven by a partner in some way,” he said. “My first goal is to ensure we have enough partners across Australia and New Zealand.

“Another important step is to leverage some of our international strengths in this region. We’re very successful in the finance and government sectors in the US, where we count more than half the Fortune 50 companies as our customers, so I intend take advantage of that credibility down here, a goal that should be made easier by our relocation to Melbourne.

“I believe my tenure at Zendesk equipped me well for this new role at Centrify. From start-up mode in Australia, I saw where Zendesk went in just four years, so I see a lot of room for growth with Centrify.”

One strong opportunity for Centrify is assisting with the secure deployment of SaaS apps such as Office 365. In July, at the 2015 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, Centrify announced a new category in its channel partner program specifically designed for system integrators and consulting partners to support and accelerate deployment of SaaS applications, including Office 365.