Lani Edwards (Over the Wire)
Publicly listed telco operator Over the Wire has named Lani Edwards, former head of partner programs at fellow telco Vocus, as its new general manager for partner and wholesale.
The move comes as the company, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), pursues its next stage of growth.
In her new role, Edwards will lead a team charged with strategically managing Over the Wire’s partner and wholesale operations.
“I’m really looking forward to getting started at Over The Wire and contributing to their innovative and forward-thinking strategy to meet the needs of the current market,” Edwards said. “Over the Wire is at the forefront of B2B cloud, IT and telecommunications services and there are exciting projects in the pipeline that will open up new opportunities for customer engagement and company growth.
“Partnerships have never been more important and a ‘business as usual’ approach just doesn’t cut it anymore. Companies now demand greater flexibility and an effective partnership with a telco is essential for success."
“People are expecting the B2B experience to be equal to a B2C experience. I’m excited about the opportunity to propel Over The Wire’s partner and wholesale operations forward and contribute to the growth of this homegrown company,” she added.
Edwards, who is a finalist in this year’s ARN Innovation Awards, comes to Over the Wire after close to three years with Vocus, which she left in November.
While at Vocus, Edwards held various channel-facing roles, including head of strategic alliances, head of channel operations and, most recently, head of partner programs.
Prior to Vocus, Edwards occupied a channel-facing role at Splunk, a position she took shortly after wrapping up a head of A/NZ channels role at Cylance, which she left amid a wave of layoffs that impacted the vendor globally.
Edwards was also head of A/NZ channels at FireEye for more than one-and-a-half years, joining the company after close to six years with Juniper Networks, where she was head of A/NZ channels for the final year of her tenure at the vendor.
She has also done time at Avnet Technology Solutions (now part of Tech Data), Channelworx and InTechnology, among other organisations.
Lani's new role comes at an interesting time for Over the Wire, with fellow telco Aussie Broadband this month moving to acquire the company in a deal with a total equity value of $344 million.
If approved by Over the Wire's shareholders, the deal will see Aussie Broadband co-founder and CTO John Reisinger step down from his board position and be replaced by the former's CEO Michael Omeros.
Founded in 2005, Over the Wire has grown through acquisitions over the past 16 years. Having listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2015, it went on to acquire Melbourne-based managed service provider Telarus and fellow telco VPN Solutions.
In the last financial year, it spent $63 million on two acquisitions: J2, which included the brands Fonebox and Zintel, and Digital Sense, while also posting revenue of $112.7 million.
The year also saw Over the Wire CEO Scott Smith exit the company after just 17 months with Omeros taking over to sit alongside his managing director role.
