By Freya Purnell
SAP Australia and New Zealand have officially announced that Andrew Barkla has joined the company as president and managing director, replacing Tim Ebbeck, who left the role at the beginning of the year.
Reporting to SAP Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) president, Steve Watts, Barkla takes responsibility for all SAP’s business operations across Australia and New Zealand.
Most recently, Barkla worked for Unisys as regional vice president, general manager Asia Pacific and Japan, with responsibility for the strategy and performance of the Unisys business across 13 countries, as well as leading the technology consulting and systems integration business unit in the region. Prior to Unisys, Barkla served as vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific at PeopleSoft, where he was charged with developing a successful go-to-market and growth strategy, and managing director of System Software Associates (SSA) in Australia and New Zealand.
“SAP is accelerating transformation in the IT industry and it is great to be joining the market leader”, said Barkla. “Big data, cloud computing, and mobility present a significant market opportunity for the company. I am looking forward to engaging with our customers and our ecosystem to help them extract the benefits these new technologies have to offer.”
On the appointment, Watts said, “Andrew joins SAP at an auspicious time, with our innovation strategy fuelling momentum in each of the five market categories. I know that Andrew’s leadership, energy and commitment will complement the existing depth of experience and customer focus for which our team in ANZ is well known.”
