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KPMG's Yolanda Stead to lead Kyndryl A/NZ alliances

Replaces Vanessa Simpson to lead alliance ecosystem.
Yolanda Stead (Kyndryl)

Yolanda Stead (Kyndryl)

Infrastructure services provider Kyndryl has appointed KPMG's Yolanda Stead as head of alliances for Australia and New Zealand. 

Stead steps into the role vacated by Vanessa Simpson in February this year. Simpson, who previously spent more than 26 years with IBM, took on Kyndryl's alliance leadership after it was divested from Big Blue last year. 

Stead previously acted as national alliances director for KPMG Australia, having first joined the global systems integrator in April 2019. 

Before then, she worked across strategic accounts at Oracle and as a technical account manager at Aconex. She began her career in South Africa working with LexisNexis, Aconex and Arup, before moving to Australia in 2017. 

In her new role, Stead will be responsible for accelerating growth and "fostering innovation" through strategic alliances. She will work closely with existing partners as well as identify new alliance opportunities to create solutions that "benefit local customers and the wider channel ecosystem". 

“Yolanda brings vast partnership experience to Kyndryl and our continually-growing ecosystem," said Kerry Purcell, president of Kyndryl Australia and New Zealand. 

"Our alliances team led by Yolanda will play a critical role as we work with both global and local partners to develop, implement, and manage innovative offerings for our customers.” 

Kyndryl was unveiled last year following the spin-off of IBM's US$19 billion managed services business. 

Earlier this year, Kyndryl established an AWS Cloud Center of Excellence (CCOE), combining the two companies' respective skills in cloud infrastructure and services. 

It also inked a multi-year agreement with CDC Data Centres to design and manage a customised environment within its facilities across Australia and New Zealand.