Todd Parsons (left) and Tony Simonsen (right).
Former NetApp channel and alliances director for Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ), Todd Parsons, has been appointed to a similar role by unified communications (UC) vendor, Avaya.
While at NetApp, Parsons was in charge of the development of its channel organisation and transforming its business structure from a direct to indirect one. He has also worked for HP and Sun Microsystems in a career which spans more than two decades.
At Avaya, he will be responsible for working with the vendor’s channel to build on market reach, while enabling partners to appropriately leverage its portfolio.
Commenting on the appointment, recently-appointed Avaya A/NZ managing director, Tony Simonsen, said, “We’re looking forward to lifting relationships to a new level where Avaya is able to meet its own objectives by helping resellers increase their own businesses and opportunities by helping customers meet their needs.”
Parsons appointment coincides with the revamp of Avaya’s Connect Channel Partner Program, which includes revisions to the requirements for achieving silver, gold, and platinum-level status, and the introduction of six new Solution Experts designations (enterprise unified communications and contact centre, midmarket unified communications and contact centre, networking and video).
Avaya claims the program supports both capex and opex sales models in order to allow partners to support on-premises, Cloud and hybrid Cloud models.
The program goes live from October 1 alongside Avaya’s fiscal 2015.
