Merger prompts Symantec ANZ reshuffle
John Donovan, managing director of Symantec Australia and New Zealand, will be responsible for the Asia-Pacific and Japan region as channels director.
David Sykes, Symantec enterprise sales senior director for Asia-Pacific, has been moved to the role of vice president of a newly-created Pacific region, which encompasses Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
The duo will be based in Sydney.
On the fate of Veritas Australia and New Zealand managing director Bruce Lakin, a Symantec spokesperson said he will oversee distribution operations across the Asia-Pacific and Japan market.
Meanwhile, Sykes confirmed the merged-entity's domestic business would be managed at a Pacific level. "We may do one for New Zealand but there's no plans for an Australia country manager at the moment," he told ZDNet Australia in an interview.
Both companies would continue to operate "as they are" across Australia for now, according to Sykes, in separate offices selling separately-branded solutions.
Post merger, Symantec will have 500 employees across Australia and New Zealand.
There have been no redundancies, Sykes said, adding: "We've had no immediate plans for layoffs. This is not about trying to get economies of scale. Although we have had some people leave the company for other opportunities."
Workers would remain at separate premises, he said, but there were plans for "cross pollination" afoot. "It will vary from city to city. But we would like to get the sales and support teams together in one place."
Customers should not fear a sudden barrage of cross-selling, however. "At the moment, we don't want to see much cross-selling. Most of our customers will still have a security and an availability manager calling on them.
"In fact, many are saying they still want both," he said.
Product and branding issues in view of the US$10.5 billion merger had yet to be decided, but once finalised, Symantec is expected to position itself as an 'information security' vendor and move into wider markets.
"We will be very focused on e-mail archiving and security.
"It's there that we will be able to demonstrate the strength of the combined company," Sykes said.