The Federation Against Software Theft (The Federation) has underlined its commitment to the channel with the appointment to its board of Richard Hales, general manager of Computer 2000’s software division. One of the UK’s leading distributors, Computer 2000 has been a member of The Federation for several years, and Hales brings to the role 20 years’ experience of working with the software reseller community.
The move reinforces The Federation’s links with the channel. In August 2004 the organisation launched its Certified Reseller Group and reseller programme, aimed at ensuring resellers have a full understanding of the legal complexities of software licensing and compliance and are able to pass the benefit of this knowledge on to their customers.
Hales comments: "It is a great privilege to be appointed to the board of an organisation such as The Federation. I hope that my experience of the industry overall and of the channel in particular will be beneficial to both Federation members and the software sector in general."
John Lovelock, director general of The Federation, says: "It is essential that The Federation’s board reflects all facets of the IT market in the organisation. Richard’s appointment demonstrates our ongoing recognition of
the key role played by the channel in ensuring both the health of the software industry and the service offered to the end-user."
Computer 2000 supplies around 10,000 UK resellers with IT products and solutions. In the UK, it has annual sales of around £750 million per year. Hales is responsible for vendor and customer relationships within the software business unit, and before taking on this role, was in charge of business development across the EMEA region at leading CAD software house, Autodesk. Prior to this he held a number of senior roles within reseller businesses.
