Insight Enterprises promotes Evette Thorp to NZ leadership

Evette Thorp (Insight).

Microsoft partner Insight Enterprises has promoted Evette Thorp as its new leader for New Zealand following key leadership changes as it eyes a new level of growth in the APAC market. 

Thorp steps into the role vacated by Dean Graham who has been promoted as A/NZ sales director in February, a newly focused role developed as a result of Pat Murphy's departure who was executive general manager of A/NZ.

Graham was the New Zealand country manager for 10 years. Thorp has spent more than a decade at Insight and has also worked for Datacom.

Insight APAC senior vice president and managing director Mike Morgan said the key leadership changes were made to bring the focus back into sales leadership.

“As much as we value bringing new thinking from the outside, we love it when we’ve got people who are proven performers and are ready to take the next step in their careers. Both Graham and Thorp are perfect examples,” he said. 

“Bringing New Zealand back in under the Australia and New Zealand umbrella, it’s perfect timing for us to take out all the things we’ve been successful with in head office in Australia,  and now prosecuting that through the growing business we’ve got in New Zealand.”

Geoff Sutton has also been promoted as APAC Microsoft customer success leader while Warren Ah Chu made a comeback as a sales leader for the public sector. Sutton has spent almost 10 years at Insight and previously worked for Data#3 and Tech Pacific. Ah Chu was previously at Insight from 2014 to 2018 and has worked at Veritas and Interlock before making his return. 

“A couple of years ago, we decided that as the markets were changing we wanted to have more of a ‘purist’ sales force and empower them with a centralised team of Microsoft expertise that can be leveraged across the whole seller base,” he said.

 “With Geoff we’ve been able to give him a lot more investment to bring in the folks we have in Microsoft dedicated functions across Singapore, Hong Kong and China. It’s a regional function that has landed really well and is really aligned particularly with Microsoft moving to the new subsidiary model.

“We’ve got dedicated leadership and functions that are very clear in their scope, remit and accountability that’s making a massive difference to the business.”

Recently Auckland Council revealed it was poised to shake up existing supplier relationships as it embarks on a new round of Microsoft license negotiations.

The council, which traditionally buys its licenses from Microsoft license solutions partner Insight Enterprises NZ, is now poised to go to market alongside Auckland Transport and Watercare.

In August last year, Insight landed a contract worth $23 million from the Western Australian government’s Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) to streamline water and environmental regulatory approvals.