Sydney, Australia — A leading small to medium (SMB) software market specialist, Richard Duffy, has been appointed as SMB Market Development Manager by SAP Australia and New Zealand (ANZ). This newly created role reflects the commitment of Geraldine McBride, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, SAP ANZ to build on the initial success the company has had in the mid-market and further strengthen its channel strategy.
Formerly of Microsoft Australia, Duffy joins SAP at a time when the company is gearing up for a massive push into the SMB market with a range of new offerings later this year. Duffy will report directly to Tim Cavill, SMB Director for SAP ANZ, who will be spearheading the SMB push.
“We have clearly highlighted the SMB market as an area of growth for SAP, and this appointment represents a significant step in the right direction for us,” said Ms McBride.
“With his unrivalled understanding of the local SMB business environment and a track record of over delivering on expectations, I have every confidence that Richard can quickly help SAP grow market share in the critical SMB market.”
Richard Duffy, SMB Market Development Manager for SAP Australia, brings to the role extensive experience in the global IT industry, as well as focused expertise in the Australian SMB market. Prior to joining SAP, Richard was most recently Solution Marketing Manager for Microsoft Business Solutions, but throughout his 15 years with Microsoft and Great Plains he was involved in almost every facet of local operations, from channel management through to consulting, training and strategic customer relationships.
Whilst at Microsoft, Duffy gained a reputation for strong and consistent sales performance, highlighted by several years of double digit growth for Great Plains and Microsoft Business Solutions. Before joining Microsoft, Duffy ran his own SMB partner organisation and was amongst the first to be involved in the introduction of the Great Plains solution to the Australian market. Richard also spent eight months with Australian ERP vendor PRONTO, working as Chief Technology Officer in their United States operations based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Duffy will be based out of SAP’s Sydney office, and will be integral in driving the company’s strategies for the SMB market.
In a further effort to stimulate the adoption of the MySAP All-in-One and Business One SMB offerings, SAP is also refining its go to market strategy. In recent weeks, the company has added a significant number of new Value Added Resellers to its channel program
