IBM unveils new UK channel chief

Richard Potts takes over from Jacqui Davey, who is taking on a strategic European sales role at Big Blue

IBM has unveiled its new channel chief after predecessor Jacqui Davey moved up to take on a strategic European sales leadership role.

Richard Potts (pictured) officially took over the role of vice president of business partners and mid-market UK and Ireland last month.

He will report into David Cornick, who leads business partners and mid-market for Europe.

In a statement Potts, who was previously sales director for IBM’s System X business, said he was relishing the challenge and was looking to get even closer to the vendor’s partner base.

“I have worked with business partners for most of my IBM career both within UK and Ireland, and also at European level. I know many of you personally and look forward to meeting many more of you moving forward.

“In the UK and Ireland, IBM will continue to develop compelling value propositions and market demand around IBM's strategic growth plays - Smarter Planet, Business Analytics, Cloud Computing and a fourth priority for the channel: selling to Mid-market clients.”

He added: “It is a priority of mine to deploy a set of programmes that will enable you to invest in the skills and capability required to demonstrate the transformational effect these initiatives can have on your clients' businesses.

“There is no doubt that the UK and Ireland market is operating in a challenging economic environment. At the same time, our industry faces new challenges: The emergence of new technologies, the explosion of personal devices, the dramatic growth in data that has to be stored and analysed and emergence of new delivery models such as cloud computing.”

Potts said the challenging nature of the market meant he would strive to get even closer to partners and he encouraged them to provide feedback on how the vendor can improve its partner offerings.