Software vendor Novell has appointed Sean McCarry to spearhead the UK and Ireland’s sales, marketing and partner strategies.

Replacing Jacqueline de Rojas, who is leaving to pursue other interests, McCarry has taken on the role of UK and Ireland country manager.

Bringing 20 years of experience to the post, McCarry intends to focus on developing Novell’s UK and Ireland partner network.

Ron Hovsepian, president and chief executive of Novell, said: “2009 is set to be a significant year for Novell and having the right management team in place to drive forward our strategic objectives is of vital importance to the company's success.

“Sean is an experienced and respected member of our senior management team and I am confident that he will help us to achieve our ambitious goals.”

Prior to his promotion, McCarry spent three years leading the UK government sales team at Novell. He has previously held positions at Dell and Computacenter.

McCarry will report to Javier Colado, the newly appointed president of Novell EMEA.

Javier was promoted in January when the vendor realigned its EMEA executive management team and shifted its partner programme responsibilities to its marketing organisation.