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NextiraOne builds UC and datacentre nous with staff rejig

Integrator shuffles the deck to bolster core strengths

Integrator NextiraOne has shaken up its middle management set-up as part of a drive to deepen its unified communications (UC) and datacentre expertise.

Avaya and Siemens alumnus Shirley Hemstock joins as business practice leader of collaboration and customer interaction. Reporting into her will be another new recruit, Jason Brown, who joins as UC business consultant. Cisco expert Brown has previously worked for rival VARs Logicalis and Affiniti (now Kcom).

NextiraOne's long-standing head of marketing Chris Lewis is to take on additional responsibility for datacentre business development. Lewis will retain ultimate responsibility for the Staffordshire VAR's marketing operations, but marketing communications manager Jane Selvidge will manage the marcoms team on a day-to-day basis.

Also working closely alongside Lewis will be Debbie Starling, who was recently appointed as head of secure communications infrastructure. Starling has been tasked with bringing pre- and post-sales operations across datacentre and security technologies into one team.

Another exec taking on a new gig is Stewart Thorley, who has been handed the post of practice leader of recurring business, a role in which he will handle customers with support, maintenance or managed service contracts.

Thorley's former job of running the integrator's unified building solutions unit has been given to Peter Smith, who previously held a public sector sales post.

Steven Skakel, general manager at NextiraOne UK, said: "[This announcement] reflects the way the company is developing and growing and our increasing focus on customer-centric solutions in contact centres, datacentres and UC."