CDN has learned that Nick Tidd will be announced the new D-Link president for North America sometime this week.
The one thing I’ve learned about Nick Tidd during his career is that he moves fast.
It wasn’t that long ago that he left the 3Com worldwide channel chief job. But in that short period of time he has landed on a very prestigious board and became the new GM of D-Link Canada. He made the No. 4 position on CDN’s Top 25 Newsmakers to boot.
As the new president, I expect Tidd to come out guns a blazing and take on the market with an aggressive approach. It is one thing to do well in Canada and quite another in the U.S., where they eat their young. The one thing Tidd has going for him is that he has practically seen it all while running U.S. Robotics and 3Com. He knows what the U.S. market is like, but because his career started in Canada I think it will help him. As a Canadian business leader in IT you have to be good at everything because of the lack of resources in most subsidiaries. Unlike the American business leader, who may be good at one specific thing but have no clue as to what his colleague in the next office is doing. I remember John M. Thompson of IBM fame tell me of his experience when moving to the U.S. to run IBM’s software business.
I think this is a smart move on D-Link’s part. They will get some great traction in the market place now that Tidd is in charge. And, let's not forget Tidd has something to prove since he left 3Com.
One quick hit before I go. PR practitioner Cortney Anderson will be leaving High Road Communications, which is Microsoft’s main communications arm this Friday to become Communications Manager at KPMG here in Toronto. CDN wishes her well.
