Scottish MSSP unveils rapid international expansion plans

New CEO John Maynard and incumbent chief exec David Calder reveal the rationale behind new management structure and expanding into Europe

       Adarma's new chief executive John Maynard was brought on to "rapidly" scale the business internationally, he told CRN.

Maynard takes over as chief exec at the MSSP from David Calder, who will step into the chief product officer (CPO) role at the fi

rm. Formerly known as ECS Security, the firm underwent an MBO from parent company ECS Group last year, led by Calder and supported by private equity firm Livingbridge. Maynard joins Edinburgh-based Adarma from his role as VP of global security specialists at Cisco and has previously held senior leadership roles at DXC Technology and HPE. His experience in these organisations plays a key part in his ambition to grow Adarma across both the UK and internationally, he said. “Our customers are thinking about IoT and OT security, so there’s a wealth of additional domains and services that Adama could offer our new and existing customers,” he stated. “Adarma is helping customers solve those challenges, coming from a changed market with remote working and the threat landscape changing. That’s the next phase from both an industry perspective and from a breadth of services perspective. “One of the things that I bring to the business is helping the organisation scale internationally; so doing that in the UK and thinking of how we expand the brand and proposition into international markets.”

Earlier this year Calder (pictured right) told CRN that expanding into new geographies was a priority for the company, but have these plans been affected by the global pandemic? “I don’t think they’ve been impacted, the plan is still moving at full flight,” he said. “We’ve actually spoken with a whole bunch of organisations and being able to do it via Zoom or Teams allowed us to mobilise much faster than the traditional due diligence where you have to arrange a couple of days and everyone’s diaries and travel and such. “That kind of reconnaissance understanding of the markets actually went much faster and helped us shape our plans much faster. We’re still intent on making sure that we are internationalised as quickly as reasonably possible - and Europe may be the first destination over the US, based on what we’ve learned to date - but internationalisation is very much a high priority for the organisation.” MA has not been ruled out as a means of expanding the Adarma brand into new regions, Maynard added. “As we invest and grow and drive the brand inside and outside of the UK, we’re going to be looking at all options, such as organic investment, inorganic investment and opportunities to partner as well - all options are on the table,” he said “We have very supportive investors, and - given the demand that we see for Adarma’s services - we’re looking to expand the business rapidly.” Calder said that Maynard will drive a “clearer” strategy for the MSSP and that his move into the CPO role means that he can spend more time with the customers doing his “first love”. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the rocket ride of growing the business as we have, but with that CEO role came more demands on time, with regards to structurally growing the organisation and my first love is solving complex security challenges for our customers,” he explained. “We found John after a pretty lengthy search and he stood out as a brilliant addition to the team and the perfect CEO for us. My love for solving complex problems is embodied in many ways in Adarma so there’s absolutely no desire for me to leave the organisation, but I definitely want the organisation to continue on in its growth and continue to accelerate.”

Author: marian.mchugh@incisivemedia.com(Marian McHugh)

Date: 2020-11-23

URL: https://www.channelweb.co.uk/news/4023596/adarma-bosses-open-international-expansion-plans

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