Phil Bullock has been appointed managing director of IBM Australia and New Zealand following David Thodey's resignation in order to join Telstra (see associated article on The Rust Report site). Bullock has been with Big Blue for 22 years in a variety of roles in sales, business development and marketing, including marketing director for the Personal Systems Group at IBM Australia. His most recent role was general manager of the Personal Systems Group.
With what appears to be considerable understatement, Bullock said he was looking forward to his new role, because "there has never been a more exciting time in the IT industry, particularly as organisations grasp the very real business changes brought by the evolution of the Internet."
Bullock's appointment was announced by Kakutaro Kitashiro, general manager of IBM Asia/Pacific, who noted Thodey's departure for Telstra, with which IBM has "had a long-standing, strong, business relationship". Kitashiro said he looked forward "to the continued close partnership" between the two.