Sohonet, an expert in connectivity and data management for the media and entertainment industry, announced a raft of new global appointments to support its global expansion program.
Seven key executive personnel have been brought on board to support Sohonet’s rapid expansion into new, global territories and to help develop a range of new services that will ultimately enable media customers to better manage the increasing volumes of digital content must handle.
Sohonet’s recent key hires include a new director of product management, director of sales (EMEA), director of sales (North America), director of global operations, East Coast sales executive, a West Coast sales executive and a new CFO.
“This is going to be a very exciting year for Sohonet and we are delighted to welcome a number of talented, new faces to help ramp up our presence and service offerings across the globe,” said David Scammell, Sohonet’s CEO. “It’s also pleased me immensely to see a good number of the Sohonet staff progress to new roles and to take advantage of the opportunities that have arisen as the company continues to grow. With new, on-the-ground resources in many of our key territories, Sohonet is now geared up to deliver a truly enhanced, 24/7 ‘follow-the-sun’ sales and technical support service. Internationally, we are in the process of opening new services in Montreal, Paris and Singapore and as we continue to develop our Sohonet Hub service, we look forward to expanding our storage solution, a powerful, new tool for flexible, cost-effective, utility-based storage, which will help the broadcast industry address some of its short and long-term storage challenges.”
Sohonet’s first quarter 2013 new hires include the following industry professionals:
Rupert Mussen replaces Clare Wadd, who has taken a role in the charity sector, as chief financial officer. Mussen has extensive experience of working with technology companies and is the perfect candidate to help steer Sohonet through its rapid growth program. Mussen joins Sohonet from VoxGen where he was CFO and company secretary. Prior to this, he has spent more than 10 years at Deloitte’s TMT Group.
Steven Rich will play a pivotal role in the expansion of Sohonet’s U.S. operation as director of sales, North America, and has already been instrumental in setting up new sales resources on both the East and West Coasts. Rich has an excellent track record in media and technology sales and has previously worked for Sierra Video Systems and Media.net. Rich ran his own systems integration and workflow consulting company for over seven years and is an expert on digital video hardware, software, encoding and storage system technologies.
Ben Dair takes on an important new role for Sohonet as director of product management. Dair will play a major role in developing and delivering a range of new services for digital media production, distribution and storage that will successfully meet customer requirements both technically and commercially. Dair is a thought leader within the film, broadcast and games industries, and has a tremendous track record in developing compelling product propositions for the production and postproduction sectors.
Rhodri Evans has come on board as director of global operations to ensure the effective delivery of Sohonet’s growth plans. Evans has previously held director of operations positions for Discovery Communications and Ascent Media and has gained more than 10 years’ experience in technical operations from his time at the BBC and Pearsons TV. His experience of managing complex technical operations, managing large expansion projects and delivering exacting service levels to broadcast clients will be a great asset for Sohonet.
Thomas Filloud joins Sohonet as its new director of sales, (EMEA) and will play a pivotal role in expanding Sohonet’s global footprint. As a French native living in London for almost 10 years, Filloud brings a blend of experience from the London and mainland European markets. Filloud has extensive experience in network engineering and technical pre-sales support, and has a strong history of sales success in organizations such as Dell, Active Storage and Atempo.
Jeff Cohen is a welcome addition to Sohonet’s U.S. sales team. As Sohonet’s first East Coast sales executive, Cohen will be responsible for developing key markets in New York, Toronto, Montreal and other Eastern Seaboard cities. He has a wide and varied technology sales experience within the broadcast and postproduction market, including time spent at Sony, Avid, BBC Systems and Masstech Group.
Julian Ramm takes on the role of West Coast sales executive to deliver new services and support for Sohonet’s growing West Coast customer base. Ramm brings with him a wealth of experience in technology sales for broadcast and post clients, having previously worked for Sony Broadcast, Panasonic Broadcast and Avid. Originally from the U.K., Ramm has spent more than 15 years in the U.S., cultivating contacts on both sides of the pond.
“We look forward to a very exciting year with an ever-increasing focus on delivering value-added services to the Sohonet platform,” Scammell added. “These new services, in addition to an accelerated focus on geographical expansion will enable new and existing customers to obtain greater value from being a member of our world-renowned Sohonet community, which is going to be bigger and better than ever before.”
