Former Allied Telesis country manager Paul Batchelor is joining Access Networks to help develop and execute the newly formed company's growth strategies, effective August 1.

Based in Wellington, Batchelor will be looking after the lower North Island and South Island.

“It's a great opportunity to engage with resellers across a focused range of network brands and solutions covering telecommunications, enterprise, industrial, IoT, wireless and network management - monitoring,” says Batchelor.

Long-time IT distribution veteran and Access Networks sales and marketing director Mark Dasent sees Batchelor bringing growth for Access Networks and a specialist focus that will help partners and vendors to grow their business.

Batchelor has over 30 years of experience in sales, distribution and marketing in the IT and networking space.

In his time in IT, he has gained experience formulating national and global sales strategies, business plans, and initiatives to improve customer satisfaction, build team performance, and engagement.

“The Access Networks team have a vast wealth of experience in the NZ IT landscape,” says Batchelor.

“We can honestly say that we know our stuff and can offer sound advice and pinpoint answers for our partners.

Dasent says he is “very pleased and excited to have Paul on board”.

“Paul has done a tremendous job with Allied Telesis over the many years and his commitment to helping partners demonstrates this success.

Dasent says Access Networks brought Batchelor onboard for the wealth of experience he brings to the industry.

“We will be adding more complementary vendors over the coming months in our core areas of focus and expertise,” he says.

In June, Access Networks announced that they had entered a distribution agreement with French IoT solutions provider Kerlink for the New Zealand and Pacific Island markets.

Access Networks was created earlier this year by ex-Connector Systems owner and Ingram Micro manager Kevin Swainson and Mark Dasent.

Both Swainson and Dasent did not want to create a broad-based distribution business like they have owned or managed in the past.

The focus, instead, will be on between 10 and 12 vendors in the areas of telecommunications, Internet of Things (IoT), networking and security.

A keen focus on deal management, customer projects and solution selling are the signatures of their new distribution approach.