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Avaya makes strategic management appointments

Kgaogelo Letsebe
By Kgaogelo Letsebe, Portals journalist
Johannesburg, 15 Aug 2017
Jim Chirico and Fadi Hani have been appointed vice president for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey and group CEO respectively.
Jim Chirico and Fadi Hani have been appointed vice president for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey and group CEO respectively.

Fadi Hani has been appointed as vice-president for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey at US-based unified communications solutions provider Avaya.

He has held other senior sales and management roles in the company since joining in 2007. He was most recently MD for the Saudi, Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and Pakistan region, where he is credited with achieving double-digit business growth year-on-year.

Hani previously held senior positions with other ICT and software companies in the region, including Oracle and NCR.

According to Avaya, Hani has been tasked with promoting the firm's "customer-centric, outcome-based approach in the strategic region, working closely with key customers to help them achieve their digital transformation objectives as well as deliver multimillion-dollar revenue targets".

He will lead a team of pre-sales and sales, channel, professional services and administration personnel.

Hani holds a BSc Computer Science from the Lebanese American University, as well as an MBA from the American University of Beirut, obtained in 2014.

"Having worked with customers across the region for many years, it is an honour for me to step up into this new position. I look forward to the opportunity to help more customers in their journey toward digital transformation and cloud adoption using Avaya's software and services," he comments.

Nidal Abou-Ltaif, president of Avaya EU and AMEA, says he is confident Hani will do well given his relevant experience. "Organisations in this region are facing increasing challenges to evolve digitally and move at customer speed to stay ahead in ever-more competitive markets. Hani brings all his experience to bear on helping our customers succeed in achieving their digitisation goals."

Meanwhile, the global firm has also appointed Jim Chirico, currently chief operating officer and global sales leader, as chief executive officer and board member, effective1 October.

Current president and chief executive officer Kevin Kennedy will retire as CEO and a member of the board of directors but will remain as an adviser to the company.

Avaya recently announced its re-strategised plan to exit bankruptcy, saying it had entered into a plan support agreement with holders of over 50% of its first lien debt, including certain members of the Ad Hoc Group of First Lien Creditors, adding the parties have agreed for a reduction of its debt by more than $3 billion from pre-filing levels.

In January, the company filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

"I'm excited to have the opportunity to lead Avaya at a critical point in its history. I will work closely with [Kennedy] over the next two months to ensure a smooth transition as we also continue the process to emerge from chapter 11," says Chirico. "We will enter this next chapter with unique strengths and a new capital structure, and I look forward to working with the talented Avaya team to accelerate our long-term success. [Kennedy] has been my mentor and coach for the past nine years, and I am grateful to be his successor. We all thank him for his leadership and success in transforming Avaya and navigating the debt restructuring process."

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