NEC has appointed Anthony Carilla as its channel general manager, business solutions group (BSG), as part of its efforts to redefine and reinvigorate its partner program.

Carilla has been with NEC for six months as a sales manager in NSW, and has implemented a number of channel strategies.

He was offered the new position when the vendor made a conscious switch from a state-by-state channel management to a national strategy.

BSG is responsible for NEC's voice and data solutions except computers and notebooks.

"My initial focus is to understand what we have to work with and where we sit in the market. We have some 130 partners nationally and I need to understand their strengths and focuses," Carilla said. "I'm also developing new partner strategies around the change in focus in NEC to a national channel strategy. We're launching new products into the program, which we're making a lot more responsive to channel partner's requirements and market changes."

NEC was also making more senior appointments to bring in new people and skill sets, Carilla said.

"We're looking forward to growing out the business. NEC's been a dormant giant in the marketplace for a long time now, it's time to step our strategy up," he said.

Prior to NEC, Carilla was with Optus for five years, most recently as general manager of its business channel program. He has also worked with Avaya and Ericsson in channel development roles.