NTT Com Security unveils new UK boss

CEO Simon Church admits UK services business had fallen behind Germany as he brings in fresh blood

NTT Com Security has appointed Peter Cunningham as its new UK boss as it pushes deeper into consulting and managed services.

Former Sun Microsystems and McAfee executive Cunningham will run not only the UK but also the Nordics and Benelux, similar to predecessor Neal Lillywhite, who left in August amid a realignment of the UK business.

Talking to CRN, NTT Com Security chief executive Simon Church admitted he had grown wary that the UK's services trajectory had fallen behind that of the DACH region, adding that Cunningham (pictured) is the right man to kick-start growth.

Cunningham has developed "significant services-based organisations" during his career, Church said, including at Sun, where he was senior vice president of cloud utility computing.

"My concern [for the UK] was we were finding ourselves almost going back to a bit of a comfort zone," said Church, who had been running the UK on an interim basis since August.

"When you cross that chasm [into services], my view is you have to leap across it and burn the bridge behind you."

NTT Com Security, formerly Integralis, abandoned pure product resale three years ago, with technology now contributing just 40 per cent of its gross contribution, down from 75 per cent five years ago.

Some 23 consultants have been recruited in the UK specifically since the summer as Church looks to help the country make up ground on the DACH region, which he said has won a glut of services deals in recent months, particularly those involving "insourcing" security.

"We are seeing a shift from the outsourcing of a lot of services to more of an insourced play," Church explained. "There is a lot of activity around what we call 'hybrid SOC', whereby clients want to see what is happening to their data. We effectively build a secure operations centre and supporting functions in their organisations."

Nowhere is the trend clearer than in Germany, Church said, where the recent hacking of chancellor Angela Merkel's phone has stoked fears over privacy.

Church (pictured) said the UK was not chasing such deals aggressively enough but that this will change now 100 of its 300-plus consultants are based in this country, which generated €82.6m (£65.5m) of NTT Com Security's €226.9m revenues last year.

"That puts us more than comparable with any other organisation in the UK," he said.