Connetico today announces the appointment of Michelle Bendschneider as Chief Executive Officer. Michelle has extensive senior executive experience in the technology, professional services, and telecommunications sectors, bringing strategic leadership and management skills to the group. Michelle will help further scale the group and build go-to-market capabilities to extend our leadership in cloud services, particularly with large enterprise and government customers.
Connetico is comprised of three of Australia’s leading cloud and data services providers, Cevo, Arinco and D6 Consulting (D6). These companies work with enterprise and government customers to support business digital transformation across Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft technologies.
Prior to joining Connetico, Michelle held executive roles at PaperCut Software, Commonwealth Bank, Telstra and IBM.
As the Chief Operating Officer at PaperCut Software, Michelle led the maturation of the organisation’s operations including strategy, technology, people and culture, and finance, to enable ongoing, effective scale and diversification.
As the Executive General Manager of Privacy and Cyber Technology at Commonwealth Bank, Michelle directed the delivery of technology-enabled data privacy and cyber security solutions to address critical areas of risk for the organisation, incorporating regulatory compliance, technology delivery and business process changes.
At Telstra, Michelle successfully led the formation of an enterprise professional services business spanning cutting edge network services, cyber security solutions, collaboration solutions, cloud services and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, through a series of acquisitions and organic growth. Michelle went on to run the product group for Telstra Enterprise, where she led the strategy to transition and modernise legacy product portfolios to embrace software defined networking, cloud services and technologies, cyber security, IoT and digital transformation capabilities.
Michelle also held multiple senior executive roles in technology services at IBM over 14 years, including business development, sales, consulting and professional services, where she ultimately led the ANZ business process outsourcing division. During this time, Michelle directed large, multi-regional professional services teams, working closely with customers and software vendors on transformative projects.
I am honoured to be stepping into the role as CEO of Connetico. Together with the existing leadership teams at Cevo, Arinco and D6, it will be a privilege to lead and help grow this remarkable team of technologists that are at the forefront of cloud innovation in Australia. I am looking forward to continuing to invest in our local teams and working collaboratively with our technology partners, AWS and Microsoft, to deliver the best outcomes for our customers in their acceleration to and innovation in the cloud.
Lara Wright, previously Head of Finance at Cevo, Arinco and D6, will move into the new role of Chief Financial Officer at Connetico. In this role, Lara will oversee and manage the financial and commercial operations of Connetico and the group of companies. Prior to joining the group, Lara was the Finance and Operations Manager at Kloud Solutions, where she successfully led the financial integration of Kloud Solutions into its acquiring entity, Telstra.
Catherine Lynch has been appointed as General Counsel for Connetico. In this role, Catherine will oversee legal advice and representation of Connetico and the group of companies. Previously, Catherine has held both legal and executive roles at ANZ, Toll Group and Allens.
These appointments come after the December 2022 announcement that Cevo, Arinco and D6 have partnered with leading private equity firm, Quadrant Growth Fund No. 2.