Harrison exits Cellnet, Davenport takes reins

Cellnet Group has appointed Kanbay country manager Adam Davenport as managing director following the resignation of Stephen Harrison.

Neither Harrison nor Davenport were available to comment when CRN called, but a company statement filed with the ASX this morning said Davenport, 46, would start duties on 1 June.

Harrison has agreed to remain as consultant to Cellnet for 12 months, the statement said.

It said Davenport had entered into an executive service agreement with Cellnet for an initial three years.

Cellnet would pay him $360,000 a year plus a bonus of "at least 50 percent of that", subject to the achievement of board-agreed key performance indicators, the statement said.

"He will also participate in a long term incentive plan to be developed for the Cellnet Group," it said.

Darryl McDonough, chairman at Cellnet Group, said Davenport had "strong general management skills" and specific IT management and distribution expertise. Cellnet distributes telecommunications and IT consumer products across Australasia.

"Davenport has the experience and skill sets to take Cellnet to the next level in terms of capitalising on future cross-selling and logistics opportunities," McDonough said.

Davenport said in the statement that Australian IT distribution was consolidating but argued that represented an opportunity for Cellnet to attract new partners and customers.

"I will focus on customer service and operational excellence and am looking forward to working with the board to refine and develop the company's capabilities," Davenport said.

NASDAQ-listed Kanbay is a software development and system integrator specialising in security and remote access. Davenport was responsible for strategy and identifying new products to take to market, the statement said.

Davenport had also worked in the UK as European vice president for service provider Getronics, as chief executive for US office products distributor Blue Star Group in Australia and as corporate service director at Wang Australia, the statement said.