Routed appoints Lee Syse as director to drive channel and product development growth

In a significant coup, Routed, Africa’s only vendor neutral VMware cloud provider and now a VMware by Broadcom Premier CSP Partner, has appointed Lee Syse as its Director of Product and Go-to-Market (GTM). Globally recognised as one of the most experienced VMware cloud product expert across the continent, Syse brings immense depth of both product and channel knowledge and experience to Routed, at a critical time in its growth trajectory.

Andrew Cruise, founder and CEO, Routed, says that the appointment of Syse is part of the company’s strategy to grow an already successful and exciting business: “Lee is joining at a director level to drive the daily business and the overall GTM strategy. Routed has spent eight years building a service-to-partners business and the addition of Lee will enable us to amplify our visibility from a sales and marketing perspective, while also being able to offer enhanced partner support.”

It’s been nine months since Broadcom completed its acquisition of VMware in a move to build out what the company sees as a multicloud strategy.  Since then, local channel partners have been adapting to the new structure and Syse says that he is excited to use his prowess in driving a partner-centric GTM strategy, with a particular emphasis on optimising a joint solution approach across the business, where mutual support drives collective success.

Routed is well placed to become a pivotal force within a collaborative business ecosystem according to Syse. While at VMware, he managed the VMware Cloud Service Provider (CSP) business. Initially in supporting the area, after which he managed over 60 VMware Cloud Service Providers across the Sub-Saharan Africa region. “This role allowed me to engage with CSPs in various capacities, including technical architecture and engineering, productisation, sales, and GTM strategies. This comprehensive experience has been invaluable and provides a robust foundation for my role at Routed, where I am excited to contribute to the organisation’s continued rapid growth.”

Syse believes that Routed will achieve additional success by engineering and operating enterprise-grade solutions that deliver critical products to organisations. “Our strong reputation for exceeding Service Level Agreements has established Routed as a trusted brand among partners and customers.”

He says that to align with Routed’s growth strategy, the focus will be on implementing a channel-based GTM approach to address the complex IT challenges associated with physical infrastructure. Central to the business is the design, deployment and operation of VMware Cloud platforms.

“We are committed to significantly enhancing these core offerings and will invest in initiatives to support our partners in driving VMware Cloud GTM strategies, whether through white-labelling our cloud solutions or assisting in the development of their own cloud capabilities.”

According to Cruise, Routed operates with a highly developed business model that provides substantial value to both partners and customers. “Lee has joined Routed during significant market transitions, most especially the VMware acquisition by Broadcom. His primary objective is to assure our partners and customers that Routed’s established service catalogue will remain central to the business and that the model is both well-established and highly valued.”

Given his years in the channel, Syse is geared to work within the channel and says that partners are crucial to Routed’s success: “One of my key responsibilities will be to enhance our approach to partnering, with a focus on enabling our partners to achieve greater self-sufficiency.”

Looking ahead, Cruise and Syse both agree that given Routed’s current level of maturity, it is essential to evaluate the expansion of its service and product offerings. “We will assess emerging technology trends to make informed, strategic decisions about the future growth of our business.”