IT security and data protection company Sophos has appointed David Sykes to the role of Sales Director, Australia and New Zealand, in addition to announcing three additional new hires across its business development and sales team.

Based in the Sydney office, Sykes will report directly to General Manager of Sophos Australia and New Zealand, Ashley Wearne.

In this role, Sykes will spearhead a team dedicated to identifying new business opportunities, supporting existing partnerships and expanding Sophos’s presence across ANZ.

Sophos says the sales team will continue to work closely with its reseller partners to uncover new market opportunities, provide expert sales interaction and assist partners in securing deals.

“I’m excited to join a global company that is extremely dedicated to providing organisations with innovative and affordable security solutions," Skyes says.

"At the end of the day, organisations want a security solution that gives them the peace of mind and confidence to focus on core business activities – and Sophos allows them to do exactly that.”

An industry veteran, Sykes brings to Sophos almost two decades’ of experience in the IT industry, having held various senior management roles within leading organisations in Australia and Asia Pacific, including Computer Associates, Symantec and McAfee.

Prior to joining Sophos, Sykes was the South East Asia Director at Crossbeam Systems where he was responsible for supporting sales and operations.

Wearne believes Sykes’s appointment demonstrates the significant investment Sophos continues to make in strengthening its partner network across the region.

“We’re continuing to achieve significant growth across Australia and New Zealand as organisations realise the importance of implementing simple security solutions to cater to the latest technology trends around BYOD, remote working and cloud adoption," Wearne says.

"A huge component of ensuring we keep this momentum is building a strong, formidable sales team – and David’s extensive experience in the IT security market, as well as industry contacts, will be vital.”

“The progress of our new partner-oriented market strategy has also resulted in the demand for new staff.

"We are actively looking for talented people skilled in sales, sales engineer and channel roles to join a global leading IT security company at an incredibly exciting time."

In addition to Sykes’s appointment, Sophos announced another three new hires to the company:

· Vikas Uberoy, Partner Manager – Australia New Zealand:

Uberoy brings to Sophos over 17 years’ experience working in the IT industry working with channel partners and end-users, including management roles at Trend Micro and Juniper Networks.

· Robert Thomson, Channel Account Executive:

Thomson joins Sophos with more than ten years in IT support and management roles at Symantec, QK and Ernst & Young.

· Michael Klohk, Channel Account Executive:

Klohk brings to Sophos over seven years of sales and customer service experience working at M.Tech, Ingram Micro and Pepperstorm.