Coyne's in for 3Com enterprise push

UK manager position reinstated as firm goes for direct-touch sales

3Com has turned to the channel for its UK leadership with the appointment of Rob Coyne as UK general manager, less than 12 months after the UK country manager position was made redundant.

The top UK position at 3Com has changed hands several times recently, with Adrian Hurel made redundant in March 2001, followed by Paul Malcolm's departure a year ago. Coyne joins from reseller Computacenter where he was responsible for enterprise business.

Buddie Ceronie, EMEA area sales director at 3Com, said: "When I came in last year I did not need a UK country manager, but we now have the structure in place and need a dedicated head."

Ceronie added that the firm has employed 20 additional direct-touch sales representatives in the past 12 months and is looking to make a big push into the enterprise space.

Coyne's experience working on enterprise accounts will bolster 3Com's ongoing strategy to get back into the sector following its exit in 1999, when it upset resellers by dropping its CoreBuilder range of switches.

Kevin Vine, director of networking services at Ingram Micro and a former colleague of Coyne's, said: "If 3Com's aim is to sell into the high end of the enterprise, then Rob Coyne is the ideal man to drive its direct-touch model.

"He has the expertise and experience of working with large enterprise customers."

But 3Com's enterprise push is stalling, according to Andrew Brimson, technical director at reseller Data Integration. "We have not seen 3Com in the large enterprise market at all in the past 12 months. If it wants to succeed it needs to get in front of more resellers," he said.

To this end, 3Com said it will appoint between 200 and 300 resellers in Europe.