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Proofpoint's A/NZ channel chief tackles new APJ leadership role

Comes after Bitdefender's Joe Sykora took on Proofpoint's global channel leadership duties
Johann Ramchandra (Proofpoint)

Johann Ramchandra (Proofpoint)

Proofpoint's channel director for Australia and New Zealand, Johann Ramchandra, has been appointed as the cyber security vendor's new senior director of channel sales across Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ). 

The newly created role sees Ramchandra oversee the company's channel operations across APJ, working to underscore Proofpoint's self-proclaimed continued commitment and investment to accelerate its partner execution across all key markets within the region. 

A replacement for Ramchandra's prior A/NZ channel leadership role is yet to be identified, however the company plans to fill it in the coming months.  

Ramchandra, who is currently based in Sydney, Australia, has been with Proofpoint since August 2018, when he stepped into the A/NZ channel leadership role after nearly three years as national partner manager for Check Point Software. He spent several years as a partner manager at Symantec before jumping over to Check Point in 2015. 

“Johann brings a decade of combined industry experience working in cybersecurity and developing partnerships with the channel," Alex Lei, Proofpoint APJ senior vice president and general manager, told ARN. "Since joining Proofpoint in 2018, he has demonstrated great leadership driving our A/NZ channel business and is well positioned to lead our channel business in the broader APJ region," he added. 

Proofpoint's channel organisation has seen no small amount of change recently.

Channel veteran and former Bitdefender global channel chief Joe Sykora was appointed at the beginning of this year to oversee Proofpoint’s worldwide partner organisation across the Americas; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and APJ.

Prior to Bitdefender, Sykora spent over seven years at fellow cyber security vendor Fortinet, where he last held the role of Americas channels vice president, sales operations and advanced technologies.

Meanwhile, in October last year, Proofpoint appointed Lei as its new regional leader of Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), recruiting the industry veteran from Dell Technologies.

Lei joined the vendor from Dell EMC, having previously held the role of vice president of Data Protection Solutions for more than two years, following regional leadership positions at FireEye and Symantec during a 20-year career within security.