Channel boss appointed as Kaseya seeks ‘deeper’ engagement; more partners

Kaseya has appointed former Citrix and Express Data staffer Kellie Hackney as its first head of channels for Asia Pacific, as the cloud-based IT management software provider seeks ‘deeper engagement with more partners’.

In October, Kaseya ANZ managing director Dermot McCann admitted that the company’s engagement with Kiwi channel partners had fallen short in recent years, and promised more focus on Kiwi partners.

Hackney, who will be based in Sydney, is a channel veteran, with more than 17 years ICT channel based experience.

She spent eight years with Citrix in various partner management roles including ANZ channel programme manager and senior manager for partner management. Prior to that she was IBM business manager at Express Data. Most recently she spent six months as a consultant with Channel Dynamics, after leaving Citrix in July 2014.

Hackney says she was attracted to Kaseya by its cloud and mobile management products, given the rapid adoption of those technologies across ANZ.

“Kaseya’s proven track record managing complex IT environments has helped MSP partners and end-user customers migrate mission-critical applications to the cloud and mobile platforms with greater confidence,” she says.

McCann says Hackney’s appointment comes as Kaseya prepares to develop an even deeper engagement with more partners throughout ANZ and Asia to drive growth in 2015.

At the Kaseya Community Event in Auckland earlier this year, McCann acknowledged that Kaseya hadn’t been focused enough on New Zealand.

“We need to talk to you a bit more,” McCann told partners at the event. “We have not been here for a while.

“A lot of water has been under the bridge.”

He says the company has made a commitment to be back in New Zealand for partner events once a quarter.

“We realise we need to be back here.”

McCann says the acquisition of Kaseya by a private equity firm Insight Venture Partners in June 2013 means the company now has a very clear vision and strategy.

Hackney will spearhead a number of partner and customer programmes and events throughout 2015 showcasing Kaseya solutions including the upcoming release of Kaseya R9.