A statement from the company said the appointment coincided with the expansion of its ANZ team by a quarter, including the hiring of new pre-sales and direct sales staff for its offices in Melbourne and Sydney.

“The ANZ region has huge market potential and I’m excited to be joining Software AG which has market-leading technologies in the area of Integration, Application Management, the Internet of Things and data analytics, which are key to running many digital transformation projects,” said Rees.

“I look forward to working closely with our customers and partners to successfully execute on our business strategy.”

Mike Saxton, regional vice-president, Software AG Asia Pacific & Japan, said: “I am delighted to welcome Stuart to Software AG. The experience in enterprise software and in the ICT industry will be essential in accelerating the adoption of our Digital Business Platform. His skills in building and leading world-class sales teams will be invaluable as we look to grow our customer base in Australia and New Zealand.

“The ANZ region is an important one for Software AG. With more organisations looking to embark on their digital transformation journey as well as implement IoT projects, we are immensely excited about the many opportunities this market provides us with.”

Software AG also announced the appointment of Mark Fitzsimons as vice-president and head of IoT GTM Centre of Expertise for the Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) region. He will leverage his experience to help push Software AG’s IoT business in APJ.

Fitzsimons has more than 21 years’ experience in enterprise software sales, including 14 years in the APJ region. He has held a number of high-profile leadership positions in Infor, PTC/ThingWorks, MKS and Oracle. He spent five years with MKS focusing on the Japanese market before they were acquired by PTC where he spent a further six years as director of GTM for ALM and PLM for APJ.

Saxton added, “I am thrilled to welcome Mark to the team. His experience IoT space, ability to effectively communicate with his team and customers as well as his proven track record in focusing teams on revenue generating business in both the short and long term are assets to helping us achieve strong growth in Software AG’s IoT business.”