Westcon-Comstor appoints UKI lead as European reorganisation gathers pace

Former Black Box executive Olya Scekaturova takes charge of the UK and Ireland business as Westcon-Comstor unifies its leadership structure and shifts towards a more services-led model

Westcon-Comstor has appointed Olya Scekaturova as VP of regional sales for the UK and Ireland, giving her responsibility for the distributor’s UKI business as Westcon and Comstor’s UKI operations merge under a single leadership structure.

The restructuring sees the distributor replace the separate country leadership model previously used by the two businesses and forms part of a wider reorganisation across Europe.

Scekaturova joins from digital infrastructure provider Black Box, where she was VP UKI and Europe. She has also held senior leadership roles at Computacenter and Insight.

Earlier this year, she was one of CRN’s 2026 EMEA Channel Leaders, recognising the vendor and distribution executives who continue to play a defining role in shaping the region’s channel ecosystem.

Reporting to Stéphane Reboud, SVP of sales for Europe, her remit includes strengthening relationships with partners and vendors and overseeing the distributor’s unified go-to-market strategy.

Speaking to CRN ahead of officially joining the business, Scekaturova said the opportunity to help transform the distributor into a more services-led organisation was a key reason for taking the role.

“My initial reaction was that distribution is usually a transactional business,” she said. “But Westcon-Comstor wants to do a transformation and take it seriously. It wants to focus heavily on services and delivering more value to partners and customers. That’s what triggered my interest.”

She said the company’s focus on people and culture also stood out during the recruitment process.

“It became quickly transparent to me how much Westcon-Comstor focuses on people. One of the key goals is to build a culture where people are happy, want to be there and understand what the transformation means for them.”

Westcon-Comstor’s European reoganisation: simpler engagement for partners

One of Scekaturova’s first priorities will be integrating the UKI organisation into Westcon-Comstor’s new European operating model.

She said partners should quickly see a simpler way of working with the distributor.

“We’re building a platform where multi-technology engagements come together. Partners will see greater accountability, clearer ownership and a simpler way of doing business with us,” she said.

The company is also investing in automation to speed up quoting and improve self-service, while giving partners access to specialists across multiple technology areas.

Scekaturova believes the role of distribution is changing rapidly as partners look for help delivering increasingly complex, multi-vendor solutions.

“Distribution is moving from purely transactional to more multi-vendor orchestration,” she said.

That includes giving partners access to proof-of-concept labs, technical training and testing environments where networking, cybersecurity and cloud technologies can be validated before deployment. The aim is to shorten sales cycles and help customers make decisions more quickly.

Cybersecurity remains the biggest channel opportunity

Looking ahead, Scekaturova expects cybersecurity to remain the strongest growth area for partners. She said growing cyber threats and wider AI adoption are creating opportunities beyond product sales.

“Cybersecurity will be absolutely paramount to customers. The opportunity isn’t just selling the technology. It’s deploying it, supporting it and building long-term recurring relationships,” she said.

She also warned that supply chain pressures are unlikely to ease soon.

Demand for AI infrastructure and new datacentres will continue to put pressure on hardware availability and pricing, she said, while geopolitical tensions are adding further disruption.

However, Westcon-Comstor has reduced its exposure by growing its software business, which now accounts for more than half of its revenue.

As she takes on responsibility for the UKI business, Scekaturova said her first priority is understanding the organisation before making changes.

“First it’s about people,” she said. “I want to understand the culture and how the business operates. I don’t believe in making changes for the sake of making changes. If something works, build upon it. If something doesn’t, understand why.”

Scekaturova will be supported by a team that includes John Nolan, who becomes senior director, vendor sales, having previously led the Westcon business in UKI.