Former HPE channel boss Kaaren Lewis is taking on the top channel role for Commvault across Australia and New Zealand.

Lewis has been appointed as channel and distribution director for the enterprise backup, recover and archive vendor and is charged with accelerating the growth of the vendor's channel strategy, enhancing local operations, driving partnerships and further enabling partners across key industries.

Lewis will be responsible for driving Commvault's technology within the channel, working with resellers, service providers and distributors to build go-to-market strategies.

Dan Kieran, Commvault Australia and New Zealand vice president and managing director, says Commvault relies strongly on its channel, as customers recognise the value of their data and seek clarity and control of it.

“It is vital that we have the best team and resources to support and enable our local partners,” Kieran says.

“With Kaaren's depth of experience, industry knowledge and passion for our business, we are ready to take our channel operations to the next level to support our channel and customer base.

Lewis was Hewlett Packard Enterprise ANZ director of channel, SMB and alliances until early 2016. Most recently she was general manager of sales for Canon Australia – a role she held for six months.

Her 20 years in channel and technology have also seen stints with Dell, IBM and Insight.

Says Lewis: “Commvault's unique approach and business is phenomenal – the market is calling for a holistic approach to data management and I've got the keys to driving its adoption across the ANZ channel.

Lewis says she feels ‘totally aligned' with Commvault.

“I look forward to enablign further growth and increased collaboration with the channel as part of my new role.

Earlier this year Commvault appointed former VMware staffer Andrew Goodlace as its new sales director, leading commercial sales across Queensland, Northern Territory, New South Wales and ACT to build the customer base through CommVault's partner channel.