ITWire

Christopher Ride, Managing Director of Interactive – a provider of cloud computing, hardware maintenance, data centre hosting, managed services and disaster recovery to more than 1,900  Australian companies - announced the appointment of Andrew Ford as National Marketing Manager, Monika Fitzgerald as Director of Enterprise and Rob Dunstan as CIO.

Ride said Andrew Ford,  a former IBM, Sensis and Hewlett Packard senior manager and former and Brand Director of digital brand consultancy Social Star, would oversee a team of highly dedicated marketing experts “to drive the full range of marketing functions from client, staff, recruitment, PR, digital, branding and products.”

Ford said he was planning to introduce some “exciting and cutting edge digital, social and client marketing programs at Interactive,” and was looking forward to “unleashing the abilities and skills that lie inside this dynamic organisation.

“Expect to hear a lot more from Interactive as it expands its already respected brand in hardware maintenance into new markets such as disaster recovery and cloud,” Ford said.

Ride said Monika Fitzgerald, in her role as Director of Enterprise, was charged with driving “superior account management for Interactive’s customers.”

“An inspiring, motivated and personable manager, Monika has been integral in building strong relationships with some of Interactive’s major accounts including Flight Centre, Tatts Group, Austar to name a few.

“During the past four years in her role as Queensland State Manager, and previously as Head of Sales at Vodafone, Monika is known for creating a great service culture within her team and is well respected amongst her peers.”

According to Ride, as Interactive’s customer numbers and services grew, the company needed to ensure it providing the “staff, strategy and training necessary,” to maintain its “superior customer relationships on all accounts.”

Ride said that Dunstan, who most recently was National Manager for Steady State and Projects within the managed services division of Interactive, had moved into the CIO role, which would involve  transforming the business’ IT systems and processes, and the provision of the strategy, tools and services required for Interactive to deliver “world leading customer service and systems availability.”

Ride also said that Dunstan had an impressive 25 years senior IT experience with some of Australia’s largest companies including GM Holden, IBM and BP, and had proven himself as an inspiring leader with the ability to skilfully build strong relationships with his team, suppliers and customers.

“He is a motivated and focused leader with a diverse range of experience at a local, regional and global level. With Rob in the role, we have the expertise required to continue providing our customers with the best possible information and service,” Ride concluded.