F5 unveils Burton as UK channel boss

Neill Burton will take control of F5's channel strategy across the UK, Ireland and Sub-Saharan Africa

F5 Networks has appointed Neill Burton as head of channel and alliances for the UK, Ireland and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Former BMC and HDS man Burton will look after channel strategy across the region and develop F5's partner bse including outsourcers and SIs.

A specialist in application delivery control, NASDAQ-listed F5 saw revenues inch up two per cent year on year to $472m (£304m) in its most-recent quarter, although sales in Europe came in below expectations.

Burton joins the company from BMC Software, where he held the position of vice president channels and alliances for the UK and Ireland. Before that he held the same position at Hitachi Data Systems, which came after an eleven-year stint leading Computacenter's datacentre solutions business line.

Commenting on his new role, Burton said: "F5's Synthesis vision is a powerful message for our customers and therefore F5's channel ecosystem. Instead of buying into mere product excellence, it means people can buy into a strategy.

"F5 is a company that has experienced accelerated growth and, I believe, with a next generation partner ecosystem built to bring outsourcers, systems integrators and value-added resellers under the same umbrella, we are well positioned to continue this growth path in the immediate future."