Kelly Johnson joins Pax8 as regional sales manager

Plans to lean in on consultative sales with Pax8’s partners.

Former Acronis general manager, Kelly Johnson has landed the role of regional sales manager at IT marketplace Pax8.

At her previous role at Acronis, Johnson told CRN Australia she most enjoyed the engagement with the MSP community. She also has MSP experience with her role at the Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA), where she is the cybersecurity lead.

“Presenting and being presented to in those sessions around the challenges MSPs have, how they're trying to grow their business and market their business. I thought, I just love that part. It's almost like a consultative type of play,” Johnson explained.

Johnson knew Pax8 quite well as they are a distribution partner with Acronis. She thought it would be good for her to join the team not only due to the relationship she has with Pax8 but the opportunities the company would bring her.

“It's more than one vendor that you're offering, and some of the vendors that Pax8 have on offer are new to even Australia and New Zealand. So that's exciting as well,” she explained.

Johnson also has experience in the distribution space, working at Ingram Micro for 30 years and understands what it is like working for a company that is rapidly growing.

“I was with Ingram when they were doing $800 million a year back in 1990. I've seen a distributor grow on the successes, and being part of that journey is exciting. It’s exciting to be part of that, I’ve done that before so let's go again,” she said.

In terms of the next 12 months, Johnson said her basic plan is to lean in on consultative sales with Pax8’s partners.

“We have a lot to offer, and that's not just the vendor offering, but it's also the academy,” she said.

“We also have professional services, so it's leaning in on those partners and making sure they're maximising their opportunity with Pax8. There's a lot of room there for partners to do more with Pax8, they're very excited that Pax8 is growing like crazy.”

Johnson noted that she wants to have a more strategic and proactive approach with her team to help the MSPs.

"That's my whole strategy, simple but when you're dealing with hundreds of partners, it can get quite busy,” she said.

Johnson explained that she will use her cybersecurity expertise and apply it to this role, especially as more small businesses are trying to ramp up their security measures.

“A lot of small businesses are looking to find service providers, because they can't just put an antivirus on their machines and just be safe,” she said.

“They need experts and that is why the MSPs are growing at a rate that they're growing is because the world is hyper aware of cybersecurity risks.”

As a part of this role, Johnson said she is excited to see, lean on and engage with their partners on a deeper level.

“I'm excited to see them grow and be successful,” she said. “I'm excited to be part of their journey.”

Part of that journey, Johnson explains would include their collaboration amongst themselves.

"Over the past few years, any of these events that I go to the feedback has always been, oh, it's been really great to collaborate with all my peers in the market,” she said.

“It's great to talk to them about how they're doing, I look forward to doing these types of things.”