NetApp weekend announced the appointment of Mark Ridley, as its regional director for Africa with strategic offices in Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya, in a renewed committiment to its African market and strategy to the new growth opportunities the continent offers IT investors
Ridley is an experienced sales leader with over 15 years of experience in IT, and will be responsible for all NetApp business in Africa including offices in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.
His role covers development and execution of sales and marketing strategies, enhancing the channel ecosystem and expanding the NetApp customer base in the region.
He reports to NetApp’s newly appointed Konstantin Ebert, director MEEEA for the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa.
Ridley’s appointment demonstrates NetApp’s commitment to its African growth strategy and affirms that NetApp will continue to develop and prosper in these markets, extracting maximum impact from the expected high domestic growth.
To answer local customers’ challenges, the company will look to the strength of its channel and technology alliances as well as the innovation leadership as demonstrated by the depth of its portfolio and best-of-breed quality solutions.
These include the world’s leading branded storage operating system ‘clustered Data ONTAP’, the high-performance E-Series and the most comprehensive enterprise flash storage offering in the business.
Ridley, who looks forward to enjoying his new business offer, said: “With many markets emerging and maturing at a fast pace, the African continent offers a very interesting playing field. I am confident that NetApp’s solutions hold tremendous value for partners and end customers such as telecommunications, utility or commodity companies and service providers.
“Our approach in Africa is 100 percent indirect and we will rely heavily on our partners to execute. This includes distribution and integration, but also high value opportunities such as consulting and professional services. I am looking forward to working with them to grow NetApp’s presence on the continent.”
Ebert, director MEEEA for NetApp, also stated that “Mark demonstrates all the skills and experience needed to bring our African business to the next level. He is building a team that is 100 percent focused on further developing our successful enterprise business and driving partner enablement on a wide front. All the puzzle pieces are in place now to drive a very determined go-to-market strategy. We have a strong sales team and partners that are willing to execute. Their concerted efforts will allow us to interact directly with customers and prospects, delivering enterprise-class service everywhere.”
Ridley has over 15 years’ experience in the IT industry and worked for some of the globe’s most influential companies.
Prior to joining NetApp, Mark was country manager for Dell Computers and responsible for Dell’s business across Africa.
He has also held senior management positions at Cisco, IBM, Microsoft and Panasonic where his responsibilities included the development and implementation of strategic plans and initiatives, creation of revenue streams, driving channel growth and financial profitability.