Hewlett-Packard Co. has named Peter Galanis as the new president and CEO for its Canadian operations.
Galanis, who previously served as the director of global accounts for HP’s Manufacturing and Distribution Industries business in the U.S. central region, takes over from Paul Tsaparis. Tasparis has been in charge of HP Canada since 1998.
Rick Reid, president of distributor, Tech Data Canada Corp. (NASDAQ: TECD), which is also an HP partner, said he was not surprised by this news.
“Rumours were out for about a month or so that interviews were taking place, and I knew they had an inside search going on too,” Reid said. “I’ve worked in this industry for 35 years and I’ve known Paul for about 15, and I wish him all the best. He has very exciting opportunities to do more of a North American venture (role) now.”
Galanis will be in charge of all the company’s Canadian operations, including business development initiatives, alliances and partnerships.
According to HP, Galanis joined the company in 2006 and has worked in the IT industry for over 18 years. Prior to HP, Galanis held a variety of sales, channel and marketing roles at EMC Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc. and Xerox Corp..
Reid says that he’s not at all nervous about what the role changes mean for his business and the Canadian channel.
“Time will tell, but I’m not nervous about the change,” he said. “HP has a strong mandate to continue their strong participation in the channel so I don’t think partners will see a significant change. When a change comes internally from HP, the programs will continue to be executed.”
Reid said he does not personally know Galanis, but some of his U.S. counterparts do.
CDN requested an interview with Galanis and Tsaparis, but was told that the executives were not being made available for comment.
Tsaparis now steps into the role as the vice-president of technology support for HP Enterprise Business in the Americas region. Here, he will be responsible for driving growth in the Americas for HP’s technology support offerings. Tsaparis will report to Joe Bottazzi, vice-president and general manager of Technology Services, Americas, at HP.
HP was also in the news last month after Cisco Systems Inc. announced it was ending its system integrator contract with the company when it expires at the end of next month. HP is currently a Cisco Certified channel partner and a Global Service Alliance partner.
Also last month, HP Canada channel chief Greg Chappell announced he was leaving the company. No replacement has been named at this time, but when CDN asked Reid if he knew anything about this, he said, “I know who the finalists are, but I won’t say who. They have it narrowed down to three candidates.”