Published on the 30/10/2013 | Written by Newsdesk
The Kiwi start-up has engaged international expertise to take it to the next level…
The cloud-based email security and hosting expert SMX has announced the appointment of internationally experienced technology commercialisation expert Ian McDonald as CEO, effective immediately. SMX Board Chairman, John Quirk, says the appointment is a highly strategic move made as SMX matures beyond the start-up phase and plans to accelerate both local and global growth. Jesse Ball, who is the co-founder and former CEO of SMX, will remain as a director of the company and in a business development consulting role.
Earlier this year, SMX made another strategic appointment, choosing former Earthquake Commission Hamilton technology leader Paul Willard for the position of Vice President of Operations. At the time of his appointment, Willard recognised the potential of the business to be a globally recognised brand.
“It’s great to be part of a team that really believes in what it’s doing. The people at SMX have drunk the Kool-Aid – they love the company and believe in it. Technically SMX is excellent – a truly world-class cloud service right at the cusp of major international growth.”
Commenting on McDonald’s appointment this week, Chairman Quirk said: “SMX is now the leading supplier of secure cloud email solutions to the New Zealand government and local government sectors. We have solid reseller partnership relationships with large IT services companies and cloud providers such as Fujitsu and Revera. We have a solid foothold in Australia and we have reseller relationships in India and Japan. Now the challenge is to drive commercial development of the company, alongside further investment in research and development.
“We are extremely fortunate to have appointed Ian McDonald to the CEO role at this critical point in SMX’s local and international growth. Ian has extensive networks in North America, Europe and Asia for market validation and to access resources, funders and channels to market. And he has a proven track record in the management disciplines required to manage growth and to build and lead the team that SMX needs in order to realise its commercial potential.”
McDonald himself said, “SMX is successfully growing revenues year on year, but has significant potential to further leverage its intellectual property.”
While SMX is best known for its well- regarded email security platform, it has a new hosted email solution currently being rolled out and its provisioning, billing and management platform, which enabling applications to be effectively deployed in the cloud, is “the basis for a whole new line of business” according to McDonald.
“The immediate focus will be on building our core cloud email security business in Australia and New Zealand, with continued development on the smart analysis and reporting apps and tools that widen the gap between SMX and commodity cloud email security offerings,” he said.
Ian McDonald moved to New Zealand from Scotland in 2004, where he was a founder of Connect Scotland and Global Connect. There he created and managed the Connect Investment Conference to be one of Europe’s most successful venture capital investment conferences. Connect Scotland and Global Connect have been internationally influential in bringing together investors, technology start-ups and management expertise.
Recent experience and achievements in New Zealand include helping to grow online registry company Foster Moore into a world leader in registry applications. A range of corporate development consulting assignments have helped define, validate and execute market development strategies for New Zealand technology companies looking to grow in European, North American and Asian markets.
