Hitachi Vantara appoints Steven Lee as new A/NZ channel leader

Nathan Knight (Hitachi Vantara)

Infrastructure and data management vendor Hitachi Vantara has hired Steven Lee as its new channel and alliances partner director for Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ).

He steps into the role vacated by Jonathan Fester who has now moved into the role of commercial sales manager for A/NZ. Lee has amassed two decades of experience in the industry working for Lenovo previously and Dell Technologies. 

“Both Jonathan’s move to the commercial sales team and Steven’s appointment from a solid enterprise infrastructure sales background underscore Hitachi Vantara’s focus on driving and expanding its commercial business in collaboration with our channel partners,” Hitachi Vantara A/NZ managing director Nathan Knight said. 

“Steven brings significant enterprise technology, storage, software-defined, virtualisation and data management expertise to this role.

“He will advocate for the channel, focus on delivering value to our customers, and support our partners with key programs designed for mutual success.”

Lee highlighted a solid pipeline of business in terms of opportunities the vendor was currently working on with partners.

“I’m looking forward to providing our joint customers with infrastructure and hybrid cloud technology of Hitachi Vantara’s pedigree backed by its reputation for reliability, life-cycle management, speed and flexibility,” Lee said. 

In speaking with ARN, Knight said  the vendor has been leaning into the channel in the past year, doubling its business in the process as it expands its portfolio beyond enterprise storage and tapping into the mid-range market with its hybrid cloud portfolio, services and operational technology offerings.   

“We've been making sure that people understand our technology is accessible and it's competitive from a price point perspective,” Knight added. “We've really invested in a sales organisation to reflect that message to the market."