Giacom and DWS appoint strategic leader James Baker to drive growth

Giacom and Digital Wholesale Solutions (DWS) are delighted to announce the appointment of strategic leader James Baker as our new Chief Alliance and Product Officer.

James has almost 25 years’ experience in the software and hardware sectors and has now joined our Executive Leadership Team to drive our ambitious growth plans.

He brings a wealth of experience of building and fostering strategic alliances for mutual success across product innovation, sales and finance.

James has held numerous senior positions throughout his career, including most recently as Alliances and Marketing Director at IT infrastructure provider Softcat.

He was also previously Director of Product Management on hardware and software company Insight’s European Leadership Team, managing partnerships across 16 countries.

Giacom and Digital Wholesale Solutions (DWS), along with Union Street, became part of the same group in 2020, bringing together Cloud, Communications and IT solutions.

The group supports more than 5,500 UK channel partners and the appointment of James is part of our strategy to grow our vendor portfolio and maximise the way products are brought to market.

James will play a key role in business development, ensuring our partners have access to leading vendors to help them grow their businesses, whilst also having access to the best technology for their customers’ continued success.

He said: “I’m incredibly excited to have taken on this new role with Giacom and DWS.

“It needed to be something special to prise me away from my previous role, but this represents an incredible opportunity to help drive business growth that I simply couldn’t turn down.

“The role will include making sure we bring the right products to market and managing our strategic alliances and vendor relationships, from both a Cloud and comms perspective, ensuring our partners are getting the best service and value possible.

“There’s tremendous potential at Giacom and DWS for continued growth and increased market share and I’m really looking forward to contributing to this as part of a fantastic team.”

Mike Wardell, CEO at Giacom and Chief Commercial Officer at DWS, said: “At Giacom and DWS, we believe investment in the right people is critical to the foundation of strong business growth.

“James is an exceptional addition to our team, given his vast commercial experience and his outstanding knowledge across channel markets.

“We’re confident he will provide excellent leadership for our business, our partners and their customers. The addition of James to our team will be a tremendous asset and he joins at an exciting time of continued growth and success for the business.