Westcon-Comstor has appointed Ian Kelly as vendor alliances director of Comstor in Australia, tasked with expanding the distributor’s dedicated Cisco practice.
Formerly Oracle alliances manager across Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ), Kelly replaces Chris Apthorpe in the role, who has since left the business.
Launched locally in September 2015, Comstor is a dedicated value-added distributor of Cisco networking, collaboration, security and data centre solutions, bolstered by accompanying NetApp and F5 portfolios.
Effective immediately, Kelly’s appointment follows previous management roles in distribution, with Distribution Central and Express Data, now Arrow ECS ANZ and Dicker Data respectively.
“Ian is an experienced executive leader having worked at senior sales levels in both distribution with Distribution Central and Express Data, and vendors with SAP and Oracle,” said Phil Cameron, managing director of Westcon-Comstor Australia, when speaking to ARN at Cisco Live in Melbourne.
“Ian’s responsibilities includes the management of the Cisco, NetApp and F5 vendor portfolios and partners. We are delighted to have Ian join the Australian team.”
One of Kelly’s responsibilities will be to help further facilitate the roll-out of FlexPod SF in Australia, which landed locally in August 2017.
As reported by ARN, Cisco and NetApp are leveraging Westcon-Comstor to offer combined converged infrastructure solutions through the channel.
Operating as a next-generation cloud infrastructure solution, delivered through an all-Cisco hardware platform, the solution is available through the distributor’s ONESource program, an initiative designed to capitalise on increased demand for converged infrastructure technologies across the country.
“There are so many great people within this business that are passionate about what they do, offering value, service, and committed to the channel,” Kelly told ARN. “I am really looking forward to working with them and growing this business.
“The IT channel is extremely dynamic and always evolving, to be at the heart of that within in Comstor is a great opportunity, working with a global distributor and our leadership team that is committed to the success of our vendors and partners.”
Kelly’s appointment follows the departure of David Gage as managing director of Weston-Comstor in Australia, with Cameron now stepping into the leadership role.
James Henderson attended Cisco Live as a guest of Cisco
