Internet security and messaging vendor Kerio has appointed a new UK managing director to take the firm forward in 2006.
Alan Hughes takes over at the reins of Kerio’s UK operation. Josef Zacharias, the previous managing director, will return to his native Czech Republic to lead western European sales for the company.
Hughes’ responsibility will be to oversee the day-to-day running of the business, as well as managing the company’s finances.
Speaking to CRN, Hughes said that the channel is of key importance to the vendor, which intends to take on more partners in the coming months.
“To be honest, the channel is the backbone of our business. We will be doing all we can to strengthen our relationship with partners. What we are aiming to do is make it as easy as possible for VARs to sell our products and provide good tech support,” he said.
Hughes added that the sale of its Kerio Personal Firewall product to software developer and distributor Sunbelt Software last year (CRN, 12 December), and the purchase of the 4D WebStar Mac messaging products from 4D SA last month will keep the vendor busy.
“Kerio has gone through a bit of a change on a worldwide basis. For 2006 we will be working on consolidating our product range and getting the best out of that,” he said.
Mahmood Choudhury, managing director of IT security consultancy Datrix, said Kerio is a strong vendor with good technology, but it needs to work on its lead generation strategy.
“Most of Kerio’s lead generation is done by resellers at the moment, but it is meant to be a two-way relationship. Hopefully the new managing director will make this part of his new strategy going forward,” he said.
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