Robert van der Harst has been charged with driving the firm's reseller community forward.

Van der Harst will have shared responsibility for increasing Lenovo's brand awareness throughout the New Zealand channel and for managing relationships with Lenovo's existing channel partners. It is said that Van der Harst will work closely with New Zealand distributers, Ingram Micro and Datastor.

Chris Kelly, Director, Consumer and SMB Lenovo Australia and New Zealand, explained, “Van der Harst has in-depth knowledge and well-established relationships with New Zealand channel partners having worked closely with them for the last fifteen years. He also has fantastic relationships with the reseller community and will work to drive their businesses to success with Lenovo.”

“This appointment reaffirms Lenovo’s commitment to the New Zealand channel and is one of a series of further changes and announcements that will occur in 2010 as part of our continued investment in New Zealand” Kelly added.

Van der Harst added, “I am looking forward to the new challenge of working for the reputable brand Lenovo. I believe there is a great opportunity to grow the New Zealand business through further investment in the channel and this is something I will be particularly focused on.”

Van der Harst joins existing New Zealand Channel Business Development Managers, Luke McGoldrick and Nick Hall.