Ciaran Rafferty becomes ARO CEO
He will replace Richard Burke, who led major overhauls during his eight-year tenure
Liverpool-based ARO Technology has appointed Ciaran Rafferty as its new CEO as the business zeroes in on IT managed services.
Rafferty brings 28 years of experience in tech leadership, entering the industry as sales manager for HPE in 1997.
He worked for different channel organisations such as SAP, Seidor, Sophos, Proofpoint, and Clearswift, assuming various roles such as MD, VP of regions such as the UKI, North America, as well as the Middle East and Africa, and VP of worldwide sales.
Since 2019, he worked at US-based cybersecurity company Fortra. He joined as MD and GM in 2019, and held the role for nearly six years.
Through these experiences, he reportedly acquired experience in building high-performance teams and scaling technology businesses worldwide.
“I’m honoured to be joining ARO at such an exciting time,” said Rafferty.
“The business has made tremendous strides in recent years and has built a reputation for excellence across IT managed services, cybersecurity, and collaboration solution.
“I look forward to working with the talented team at ARO to accelerate growth and continue delivering outstanding outcomes for our customers.”
Chris Russell, chairman of ARO, added “[Rafferty’s] leadership style, depth of experience, and vision for the future make him the ideal person to lead the company through its next chapter.”
Rafferty will replace Richard Burke, who is stepping down after eight years at ARO, five of which were spent as CEO.
Over the years, he led the firm’s strategic shift.
In 2023, the organisation rebranded from Arrow Business Communications to ARO, as it transitioned from a telecoms ISP business to an IT managed services business.
“It has been an unreal eight years, full of hard work, challenging times, big successes but most of all a lot of laughs with some amazing people,” wrote Burke in a LinkedIn post.
“It has been an absolute honour to lead our business, even if it has brought about one or two sleepless nights over the years!”
ARO ranks number 40 in CRN’s Top VARs list.