Datacentre vendor, APC, has appointed Joe Craparotta as its new northern region sales manager. He was most recently Commander's NSW state manager.

"I was with Commander for three years, and left when it became obvious there was no white knight coming to save the company," he said. "I've spent 18 years in the channel now and never worked with a vendor, which was something I wanted to try.

"Choosing a vendor at the right place at the right time is important. APC is in a hot space at the moment, which is why I chose to work here."

Craparotta said his first point of focus was to increase the vendor's coverage in NSW, Queensland and the Pacific Islands. He said he would increase both the sales and engineering team headcount by four in the near future and further expanding its far north Queensland presence next year.

"I won't be making any changes to our channel model, just increasing the resources for partners in the area. The industry is experiencing great growth and the channel is getting some excellent opportunities as a result," Craparotta said.

APC also hired Kevin Hughes in February to boost the technical support the vendor could offer channel partners.

Prior to his stint with Commander, Craparotta was a founding partner and managing director of the IT services provider, Indicium Technology Group.