New Stripes: Zebra Appoints APAC Leaders to Drive 100% Channel Strategy

New leadership appointees see Zebra Technologies double-down on software and services.

Workflow automation specialist Zebra Technologies has announced two new APAC leadership appointees.

Tom Christodoulou will take the role of Sales Vice President, overseeing ANZ, Southeast Asia (SEA) and Korea, and Christanto Suryadarma has stepped into the newly formed role of Head of Partnerships for APAC.

Services and solutions will be a significant focus for Suryadarma, who said attaching those offerings moves the business into providing value beyond hardware.

“We see a significant opportunity to better serve mid-market and small business customers, who require more integrated and simplified solutions,” he said.

“To achieve this, Zebra will enhance its partner enablement programs to give partners the ability to sell and implement advanced software and AI-powered solutions,” he added.

Christodoulou said Zebra had recently reorganised its team to better support partners to expand the organisation’s core business in ANZ across retail, transport and logistics and healthcare.

The new structure, he said, allows Zebra to partner more effectively to deliver complex solutions across enterprise.

“At the same time, we are focused on enabling new partners to help us grow in new verticals where our products are already having a significant impact, such as government and field services,” Christodoulou said.

Taking a channel view

Suryadarma said the channel is critically important to Zebra, with over 90 percent of its business conducted through partners.

“[Partners] are an essential extension to our team and crucial to our success in APAC,” he noted, adding partners help Zebra reach the diverse mid-market and small business sectors.

The SME market needs more than just product, he said. “They also require integrated solutions and local expertise to solve their unique challenges, and our partners are perfectly positioned to deliver that comprehensive support.”

Christodoulou takes it ten percent further and said Zebra’s ANZ business is 100 percent channel-centric, with all Zebra’s planning and execution having partnerships at the core.

“Our channel partners enable us to provide innovative solutions that are customised to local needs across many verticals and the vast geography that we cover in ANZ,” Christodoulou ended.