Philip Dimitriu - Palo Alto Networks Australia director of systems engineering
Networking and cyber security company, Palo Alto Networks, has appointed former Check Point director of systems engineering, Phillip Dimitriu, to run its systems engineering team in Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ).
Dimitriu confirmed that he stepped into the Melbourne-based role on Monday 13 March, and will be charged with running the pre sales and systems engineering teams.
In his previous role at rival networking vendor Check Point, Dimitriu was responsible for the operations and development of solution engineering and its engagements in A/NZ.
As part of the role, Dimitriu was involved in direct and channel engagements across the region. As both Check Point and Palo Alto Networks have similar strategies around channel engagement - a mix between direct and indirect sales strategies - ARN understands he will work in largely the same capacity at the US-based vendor.
Prior to joining Check Point, Dimitriu spent 14 years at cyber security company Symantec, where he held various leadership positions in systems engineering. He ended his time at Symantec as systems engineer manager enterprise for for Victoria, The Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.
The appointment comes almost a year after Palo Alto Networks hired a new A/NZ boss, Simon Green. After just six months in the role, Green was promoted to run the vendor’s APAC operations.
Shortly after Green’s appointment the vendor launched an updated version of its partner program which included new differentiation and specialisations.
The company’s worldwide channels senior vice-president, Ron Myers, said at the time that the changes included pre-sales training within the enablement framework, pre-sales, sales and post-sales individual accreditations and certifications, nine pre-sales specialisations with different levels and expertise (within cybersecurity, platform, endpoint, mobile, and datacentre) by role (foundation, associate and professional), and TRAPS advanced endpoint specialisation.
Palo Alto declined numerous requests for comment.
