Michelle Du Plessis (Vertiv)
Data centre infrastructure specialist Vertiv has increased its channel talent in A/NZ to step up to edge computing market demand.
Michelle Du Plessis has been brought on as channel sales coordinator and brings extensive experience in both the vendor and distributor sides of the IT channel.
She previously worked with Anixter, Ultimate IT Services and AtlasCo.
Du Plessis said she joined Vertiv to assist partners to bring customisation and flexibility to edge computing.
“With the maturing of our new partner program, I’m taking full ownership in helping smaller partners compete in the depths of the channel and become more self-sufficient by taking away the complexity at the user level. We are also injecting incentives for the innovative work they do,” Du Plessis said.
“Alongside on-the-ground support, it’s the vertical expertise of our partners that will be fundamental to the customisation and flexibility of edge solutions and we want to be the backbone of that partnership.”
Locksley McKay has also joined the company. As IT channel sales executive, he will be tasked with deepening partner relationships in his IT channel sales executive role. He joins from security vendor Sapio and also previously worked with Logicalis. Both Du Plessis' and McKay's roles are newly created.
“As a channel organisation, our partners are the lifeblood of our business,” said McKay. “By expanding our support for local partners, we’re helping companies build resilience into their architecture and handle both long-term growth and business-as-usual workloads.”
Credit: Vertiv Du Plessis and McKay will report to Vertiv A/NZ national IT manager Chris Denis and work closely with Vertiv’s local partners such as xAmplify, Data#3, Dell Enterprise, HPE and NTT Global, along with its distributor Tech Data.
“We’re increasing the depth and scope of the expertise partners can bring to customers, particularly in the education and healthcare sectors. These organisations are grappling with ever-shrinking budgets, while simultaneously under pressure to innovate and find ways to span the technology adoption curve,” Denis said.
“As Vertiv continues to invest in our channel business, we will continue to improve our Vertiv Partner Program (VPP) and will be launching our Vertiv Incentive Program (VIP) shortly.”
In October Vertiv released a new partner program bringing a “gamified” approach to moving up tiers, allowing partners to obtain “points” for completing training, certifications, registrations and sales.
