Local cloud platform provider Routed is excited to announce the appointment of Andrew Bennett as the company’s new business development manager. He is expected to strengthen current customer relationships and unlock new revenue streams, while also exposing Routed Hosting to key commercial and enterprise clients.
Bennett is well known in the local ICT arena, having begun his career at Dimension Data before moving to more senior roles at Sun Microsystems, Microsoft and VMware. He brings deep experience in enterprise and commercial accounts, channel sales and direct client management to his new role.
“My goal in this new position is to expose Routed Hosting to a pre-defined set of both commercial and enterprise accounts, as well as assisting and expanding the company’s current customer relationships to include net new potential customers and partners,” explains Bennett.
“I will also be working closely with current Routed resellers in order to help them to increase their hosting/cloud revenue, and will play a part in public relations, market intelligence and business development activities.”
He says that his near three decades of sales and business development experience in South Africa’s IT arena has given him a good foundation with regard to customer and partner requirements. Many of the relationships he has built over the years are still in place, he adds, noting that his years of industry exposure and experience will assist and help guide Routed into the future.
“In the short term, I believe it is essential for me to continue building on the foundation of trust that already exists throughout Routed’s ecosystem, so brand awareness and market exposure will be top of mind. Looking longer term, a core focus of mine will be to increase Routed’s customer base, thereby increasing revenue for both Routed Hosting and its many partners.”
“As software, services and infrastructure pricing models increase, customers are looking for more affordable alternatives to solve their IT business challenges and requirements. Routed Hosting has the ability to approach these obstacles in a cleaner and clearer manner, offering potential customers an alternative solution worth investigating.”
A perfect fit
Bennett adds that cloud, hosting and managed services – when managed correctly – offer many benefits outside the complicated costing and billing models. Routed Hosting has a solid track record of over-delivering on client and partner expectations, which he says positions them well to capitalise on future trends and expectations.
“I feel Routed is the perfect fit for me, as it is a company that thrives on service excellence, and the provision of solid and in-house experienced technical resources, both pre- and post-sales.”
“Routed offers strong business acumen with customer excellence at the forefront of all engagement, and maintains trustworthy and respectful relationships with key players like VMware (Broadcom).”
He adds that his own emphasis on trust, ethics and sustainable partnerships dovetails neatly with Routed’s strategy. He further has a strong belief in the company’s technical strength and service excellence, and sees plenty of potential in Routed’s alternatives to cost-heavy mega cloud service providers (CSPs).
“Routed is more than just a cloud platform provider – it is a team of highly skilled and trusted experts that are dedicated to strengthening the cloud ecosystem and driving the industry forward – and I am really eager to play my part in driving the company to even greater heights,” states Bennett.
Routed MD Andrew Cruise suggests that the company is keen to tap into Bennett’s deep industry experience and existing relationships, as these will only help to reinforce Routed’s vision of expanding its presence in the enterprise and commercial cloud space.
“His long-standing relationships and understanding of local partner and customer needs align perfectly with Routed’s consultative, customer-first ethos. Moreover, he brings strategic insight to support Routed’s alignment with Broadcom’s global CSP initiatives.
“We are excited by Andrew’s passion for partnerships, and look forward to how his strategic focus on growth, innovation and service excellence will serve as yet another signal of Routed’s growth ambitions and evolving market position,” concludes Cruise.
