Andrew Warren moves from GM of the distributor’s successful security practice to replace longtime Westcon vet Lynn Murphy, who gave Westcon notice of her intent to leave six months ago.
Andrew Warren, the new EVP North America at Westcon-Comstor
Distributor Westcon-Comstor has seen a shift at the top of its North American ranks. Lynn Murphy, who had been with Westcon for 18 years, and executive vice president, North America since June 2010, has left the company. Her replacement as North American head is Andrew Warren, who had been vice president and general manager of Westcon-Comstor’s Security Solutions Practice. Carol Giles Neslund joins Westcon-Comstor in Warren’s old role.
Murphy, longtime head of Westcon Canada, left of her own volition.
“Lynn chose to depart in order to do something different,” said a spokesperson for Westcon-Comstor. “She gave six months notice of her intention to leave, ensuring ample time both to get a successor in place and to ensure a smooth transition.”
Lynn Murphy, departing Westcon-Comstor EVP of North America
Under Warren’s direction, the Security Solutions Practice grew from $275 million to more than $1 billion in sales and today represents more than half of Westcon-Comstor’s North American business. Warren has also added leadership responsibility for Cisco-focused Comstor US in recent months. He joined Westcon-Comstor in 2010, after six years at Avnet, and has more than 20 years of channel experience overall.
“The entire Westcon-Comstor team works hard every day to ensure we have the right solutions for our customers,” Warren said, in a statement. “Our success comes from a carefully constructed strategy to capture high-growth opportunities in security, collaboration, networking and data center. Together, we are transforming the industry through our innovative cloud, global deployment and services capabilities – all backed by a world-class team. I look forward to continuing that mission into 2017 and beyond.”
Neslund is probably best known in the channel for her time at Avaya, but she has been at several other vendors, including Seagate and McDATA.
“Carol’s passion for driving growth and meaningful, measurable change has benefitted the channel in countless ways,” said Dolph Westerbos, WestconGroup’s CEO. “We appreciate that spirit and believe her vision aligns quite well with ours, which will enable us to continue to deliver new and innovative solutions for our customers and business partners.”
Warren’s appointment is effective September 1, and Neslund’s is effective September 12.
