Veeam hires ex-Avnet and Microsoft duo for channel push

Virtualisation vendor adds former Avnet manager Taisha Betz and ex-Microsoft and Blue Coat man Alex Ball to top flight

Veeam has appointed two new UK and Ireland (UKI) leaders in the hope of growing its business and channel base across the region.

The virtualisation and backup vendor has appointed former Avnet and Microsoft channel leader Taisha Betz as its new channel manager for UKI, and Alex Ball as its regional manager.

Betz joins Veeam following a two-year stint at Avnet as business development manager, after working in a variety of channel positions at Microsoft since 2002.

Ball, who held the role of sales manager at Blue Coat Systems for the past two years, began working at the vendor this month, and has also worked at Microsoft in the past, as well as at AppSense and Calyx.

Veeam hopes the double appointment will help expand its growing influence in the UKI region. Ball has been charged with building sales teams and channel opportunities, while Betz aims to expand Veeam's Cloud Provider Programme.

Betz told CRN that more can be done to involve the channel.

"We do want to expand [the partner base] to some degree, but we also need to do more with the partners we are working with already. We need to manage more partners and work more with distribution for [better] breadth of coverage," she said, adding that the vendor works with distributors Avnet – following the Magirus acquisition – SDG and Arrow in the UK, and Commtech in Ireland.

Betz replaces former Veeam channel manager Stephen Macpherson, who left the firm after a year in the role at the end of February.