IT industry veterans, Max McLaren and Ben Kepes, join Simon Anderson on Aptira’s advisory panel
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, AUGUST 19, 2015 – Australian managed hosting, public cloud infrastructure and enterprise private cloud solutions provider, Aptira, has appointed two additional advisors to help steer the company’s strategic direction as it moves to expand its operations from Asia-Pacific (APAC) into Europe and the US.
Founded in 2009, Aptira has established itself as a leading player in the global OpenStack market through the strong reputation of its leadership and execution in delivering infrastructure, private cloud and virtualisation projects. While the OpenStack market has seen some global consolidation in recent months, Aptira has continued to expand its business and gain further credibility by providing a high level of service. Aptira is also deeply engaged with the OpenStack project and community with two seats on the OpenStack Foundation Board of Directors and employs three of the 12 OpenStack Ambassadors. Its customers include Red Hat, Cisco, Telstra and Singtel Optus.
IT industry heavyweights, Max McLaren, Regional Vice President and General Manager Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ) at Red Hat, and Ben Kepes, investor and industry commentator, recently joined Aptira’s advisory panel, to provide guidance on strategy, messaging and marketing as the company continues to extend its leadership in APAC, and now Europe.
McLaren is a senior executive with almost 30 years in the IT industry, including 12 years with IBM and Lotus. He now runs Red Hat’s A/NZ business, a role he earned in 2011 following a successful five-year stint as general manager for the region. McLaren’s experience in the Open Source community will support Aptira in remaining at the forefront of the OpenStack movement.
“Being part of Red Hat for the past 10 years has reinforced my belief in the power of community-based, collaborative development which is the cornerstone of innovative, reliable and cost-effective alternatives to the traditional way IT has been delivered in our industry,” said McLaren.
“With the increased connectivity that characterises the world in which we work, collaborate, consume, and entertain ourselves today, I am convinced Open Source and the cloud will revolutionise every organisation and every market. I look forward to supporting the Aptira team in leading this change, and partnering with them to continue helping Australian organisations successfully realise the opportunities these trends provide.”
Kepes is a globally-recognised, subject matter expert with an extensive following across multiple channels, whose commentary is regularly published in prominent titles and publications. He is also an active member of Clouderati, a global group of thought leaders in cloud computing. Aptira will leverage Kepes’ expertise in cloud, infrastructure and software to underpin its strategic decision-making and operational investments.
“I consider a few questions before becoming involved with a company: is the company in an important space, is the company doing really good things in that space and, most importantly, is the company full of truly good people?” said Kepes. “Aptira ticks all three boxes and I’m proud to be helping them with their journey.”
McLaren and Kepes join Simon Anderson, Chief Executive Officer, DreamHost, who has been an advisor to Aptira since 2013.
“During my time with Aptira, I’ve witnessed the company build a great reputation for OpenStack expertise and operational excellence in APAC and, more recently, Europe,” said Anderson. “I’m excited to be joined by Max and Ben to support the Aptira team through its work in driving the adoption of OpenStack for cloud computing worldwide.”
Tristan Goode, Chief Executive Officer, Aptira, said Anderson, McLaren and Kepes’ expertise will enable Aptira to identify and capitalise on industry opportunities as it continues to expand. Building upon its success as the leading provider of OpenStack in APAC, Aptira has opened its first European office and intends to further the use of Open Source solutions in other markets, including the US.
About Aptira
Aptira is the leading provider of OpenStack in Asia-Pacific, providing cloud solutions and technology consultancy to meet the most demanding technology specifications for a wide range of organisations in telecommunications, media, finance, retail, utilities and government. With offices in Australia, India, Taiwan and Hungary, Aptira is a growing global business as its reputation for high quality services expands. As the founder and prime motivator of the OpenStack community in Australia and India, the company is committed to the idea that what it is doing for its customers today will be mainstream tomorrow. For more information, please visit aptira.com or follow Aptira on Twitter: @aptira.
