Array quick to show its commitment to the UK
Vendor keen to quash fears regarding the recent departure of staff in the region
US-based Secure Socket Layer VPN vendor Array has moved to quell fears that the recent departure of its two UK employees signals a lack of commitment to the region.
Bhanu Panda, newly appointed vice-president of EMEA sales and business development at Array, said he is currently re-hiring staff following the departure of regional sales director Kevin Thiele and UK technical manager Eddie Felmer, as exclusively revealed by CRN this month (CRN, 8 January).
“We are really expanding with Vodafone and we have other big customers in the UK, such as Oracle and Morgan Stanley,” Panda said. “My goal is to build a team that can support and sustain this business.”
Panda hopes to have a technical director on board this week and is also hunting for two account managers. He said that Array could soon switch to a larger office if all goes to plan.
Pete Mistry, technical sales consultant at UK VAR Eclipse, previously told CRN he felt “left in limbo” by the changes at Array, but he was upbeat about the vendor’s latest recruitment plans. “We’re feeling very positive now,” he said. “Hopefully this can kick-start business.”
Array will continue to work through distributors Wick Hill and Fresh Egg, and it has just appointed system integrator Cable & Wireless to help it gain traction in Vodafone and other Fortune 1000 companies, both in the UK and abroad.
Graham Fox, managing director of Fresh Egg, said: “Now Array has done this, business will be good in 2007.”
Ian Kilpatrick, chairman at Wick Hill, said: “I think Array is in good shape. I understand the reason for the changes. We took it on because it has good products.”