IBM UK's channel queen abdicates, long live the king

IBM has crowned popular channel figure Richard Potts as veep of business partner and mid-market sales for the UK and Ireland, and named Mark Hennessey as worldwide partner boss.

Potts, who helped to turn around Big Blue's volume server biz in the UK as director of the System X unit replaces Jacqueline Davey, who is moving to the new European HQ in Madrid in a competitive win back regional sales role.

He wrote to business partners last night to inform them of the changeover in a note filled with flattering observations about the "value" provided to clients, and the "skills" and "knowledge" they bring to the table IBM kit and services.

"It is a priority of mine to deploy a set of programmes that will enable you to invest in the skills and capability required to demonstrate the transformational effect these initiatives can have on your clients' businesses," he added.

Potts said Big Blue is aware of the industry and economic challenges facing resellers including the explosion of personal devices, big data and delivery models such as the cloud.

"There is no doubt that the UK and Ireland market is operating in a challenging economic environment," he said. "To achieve success, it is incumbent on my team and I to develop a deeper understanding of how your businesses operate. This will require us to work more closely than ever before."

Tom Kelly, UK managing director at Logicalis, said Potts "knows the channel well, has got a reputation for fixing things and has my upmost respect".

Meanwhile Hennessey, who took over from Rich Hume, added: "Our collaborative execution of IBM's growth initiatives - cloud, business analytics, smarter planet, growth markets - will continue."

Hume has become Big Blue's head honcho in Europe. ®