Advantage Expands Presence In Wellington With New Account Executive Hire

Account Executive Simon Dartford has joined IT services provider Advantage, strengthening the company’s position in Wellington with his business and technology experience. Opening a new front in the capital allows Advantage to engage with local customers more frequently, including government and private organisations.

Simon spearheads Advantage’s move into the capital, where he has worked over the past 25 years, initially in network design and management, moving into solutions architecture before settling into business development and client management roles, with a focus on Cyber Security. Simon has worked for end users such as NZDF and DIA as well as providers Spark and Datacom.

Simon says, “I think it is crucial to understand the customer’s business context. Putting yourself in the customers’ shoes – being an account executive and being a consultant, I can see the problems they are facing from different perspectives.”

“Thanks to my consulting background I can ask our customers the right questions to determine the business outcomes they expect us to help deliver. I also strongly believe in forging a great partnership with the vendors and distributors to come up with the right solution for our customers.”

Commenting on current trends, Simon says organisations have to be prepared to adopt a new paradigm in cybersecurity solutions. “Every organisation needs to have an understanding of the stakes and a sound cybersecurity solution in place. The threats the business face are not something that impacts only certain industries or organisations of a certain size. It is really across the board.”

“Recent changes in the way people work, how services are delivered over the Internet and where data resides are important factors that need to be understood and considered when planning secure technology solutions for your business. The new Zero Trust security model is here to stay because having a secure network is necessary but not sufficient anymore.”

“We at Advantage constantly evaluate what the market is doing, how can we best deliver value while reducing risk and adding trust. It is a very dynamic and challenging environment. Cybersecurity may be too complex for an organisation to take it on by themselves, and it can be cost-effective to outsource to specialists in this area.”

Auckland-based Regional Sales Executive Steve Smith says, “We are a technology-driven organisation with a focus on better outcomes for our clients. To achieve this in today’s IT landscape, Advantage maintains a level of flexibility and agility that few providers can rival while focusing on a true partnership with clients. Opening operations in Wellington is the next step on being flexible and agile.”

About Advantage

Advantage designs and builds scalable and secure solutions for customers that rely on highly connected IT services, helping you eliminate risks to your IT infrastructure and systems to minimise problems and maximise your uptime.

With over 35 years of experience in the New Zealand IT market, Advantage provides enterprise-class solutions across almost all market segments, including government, medical, retail, financial and legal.

For more information on Advantage, visit https://advantage.nz or https://www.linkedin.com/company/advantagenz/.

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