Cedric Edwards (Hewlett Packard Enterprise)
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) New Zealand director of channels, mid-market and small- and medium-sized business (SMB) Cedric Edwards has stepped down after more than five years in the role.
Beyond confirming that Edwards is no longer leading the company’s channel organisation in New Zealand, HPE has remained tight-lipped about who might replace Edwards in New Zealand or whether a hunt is underway for a new candidate to head up the channel business locally.
It is understood that Edwards has left the company.
“The strong momentum with the channel in New Zealand will continue under the leadership of Colin Henderson, managing director for HPE New Zealand,” a spokesperson for the company told Reseller News.
Edwards stepped into the channel, mid-market and SMB director role in late 2014, after more than three years as the company’s national channel manager, a role he took following nearly three years as northern region sales manager.
As channel lead, Edwards claimed management of partner programs, enablement and certification, with several direct and indirect reports across multiple business functions, including partner business managers, and SMB and mid-market sales teams.
News of Edwards’ departure from the channel lead role comes just weeks after HPE South Pacific revealed it had appointed Melbourne-based NTT technology solutions general manager Julie Barbieri as its new general manager for partners, alliances and service providers.
Barbieri's appointment followed several months after the departure of former HPE general manager and director channels, distribution and alliances in A/NZ, Marina Fronek, in November last year.
Also in November last year, HPE revealed the latest FY20 updates to its Partner Ready Program in an effort to give partners greater ability to customise their approach to developing enablement and establishing differentiation in the market.
The new program updates were also aimed, in part, at optimising the partner experience and empowering partners to further accelerate the engagement and growth of HPE GreenLake, the vendor’s edge-to-cloud as-a-service offering.
