Stephen Saad
Managing Director at Technology Brokers Australia
Stephen Saad
Managing Director at Technology Brokers Australia
Sydney, New South Wales
Overview
Work Experience
Managing Director
2024 - Current
We guide buyers through the market ensuring they find technologies that best fit their needs. By offering insights and connecting buyers with suitable vendors we facilitate a wider selection and collaborative opportunities, leading to efficient negotiations and successful project outcomes. We are proudly independent and client-focused, leveraging our deep technology and business acumen to serve as an impartial advisor. We also act as cost-out technology experts leveraging our experience to reduce expenses and improve efficiency by analysing financial data and contracts, identifying excessive spending and implementing streamlined operations, ensuring sustainable cost-saving measures that enhance profitability.
Limited Partner
2015
As a Limited Partner I recommend technology opportunities across ANZ for Jungle Ventures who is a leading VC fund based in Singapore. We partner with founders to build technology category leaders in Asia across financial services, retail, software, travel & hospitality, media and several other sectors.
Head of Sales
2019 - 2024
My role was to lead the Sales business to educate and influence our eco-system of Customers, Prospects, Partners, Advisory Firms, Alliances and Hyperscalers through articulating value propositions and storytelling around Fortinet’s innovation, highest-performing network security fabric (mesh) to secure and simplify IT infrastructure. To create a more collaborative and functional business environment, several strategic measures were implemented across sales, marketing, engineering, and channel departments. A state-based, verticalised sales scale-out strategy was established, enabling growth without disrupting the business. Additionally, territories and quotas were defined for various sectors, including Enterprise, Mid-Market, Public Sector, Federal, and Defence. Major accounts teams were formed for Telco, MSP, and Defence, each supported by dedicated resources across sales, engineering, and channel functions. A "sell to, sell through" quota model was developed specifically for the Telco and MSP major account teams. To support this structure, a middle sales management layer was introduced, organised into North, South, and Federal regions. These initiatives contributed to significant growth, expanding the sales team from 8 to over 60 contributors while maintaining a 90% sales retention rate. This comprehensive restructuring ensured a more robust and efficient business operation, fostering sustained growth and stability. Annual revenue growth quadrupled during my tenure taking Fortinet from a SME to a Tier One Vendor in the process. Fortinet is a leading global provider of network security and SD-WAN, switching and wireless access, network access control, authentication, public and private cloud security, endpoint security, OT security and AI-driven advanced threat protection solutions for carriers, data centers, enterprises, governments and distributed offices.
Sales Director - Business Technology Services (BTS)
2018 - 2019
My role was to lead the NSW & ACT sales business for Telstra's Business Technology Services (BTS) now known as Telstra Purple in providing non-productised consulting, products, solutions and managed services across next generation and emerging technologies; covering network, security, data centre, cloud, mobility, automation, dev-ops, AI, VR and robotics. As the manager of the non-productised next-generation vendor sales team for Telstra in NSW, I dealt with 200 vendors across various regions, led strategic data center transformation, cybersecurity, networking, and identified projects within Telstra's MSA customers. I successfully grew the system integration business by 50% year-over-year in 2018 and 2019, managed all lines of business for complex deal sheets, and created and sold multimillion-dollar solutions for major clients such as CBA, PWC and Origin Energy.
(BTS) Federal Government, Major Accounts Director
2017 - 2019
I was an Individual Contributor whilst leading the NSW sales team to provide Telstra BTS capability to solving business problems, including modernising networks to outpace disruption, navigating security challenges, optimising customer experiences, and sparking collaboration and productivity across the major account teams. I partnered with Industry to provide Federal Agencies with transformational roadmaps for their future state with a cost-out focus. I consulted on next-generation technologies for Defence and major Federal Agencies, led non-productised technology consulting engagements, consistently exceeded quotas, supported major account teams as a technology specialist, drove multi-million dollar contracts, delivered the largest NAC security platform in APAC, and built a $25M annualised business from scratch.
Advanced Technology Practice, Major Accounts Director
2015 - 2017
My role was to lead the Advance Technology Practice as the most senior technology sales specialist in providing next generation and emerging technologies accessed through Telstra's IT & Security acquisition companies, such as; NSC, O2 Networks, Bridge Point, Kloud, Readify, MCS, VMtech amongst others in delivering bespoke "non-productised" solutions. I led the large enterprise sales, security and engineering team. I directly managed CBA and PWC accounts, delivered major projects including PWC's greenfield DC project and CBA's DC switching transformation, and operated as the Leader of Business for major technology, services and risk assessment bids.
Major Accounts Director
2013 - 2015
My role as a Sales and Consulting specialist was to represent O2 Networks who were acquired by Telstra due to being Australia's fastest growing "next generation" Vendor Agnostic provider of data networking, network security solutions and services. We designed, implemented and managed networks for some of Australia's biggest companies including; State Government, Telstra, Tabcorp, Sensis, Medibank Private, NAB, CBA and News Limited as examples. Our Engineers made up 75% of our total staff numbers of 110 resulting in expertise across a range of cutting edge networking technologies; meaning we identified, supported and delivered new technologies faster than anyone else. We partnered with organisations every step of the way to make sure their network infrastructure met their needs. We did this by analysing the future network target state and then recommended solutions that matched the agreed budget and objectives.
Sales Director, APAC
2011 - 2013
My role at Tiger IT was to represent the brand as a managed service provider to organisations in Australia and New Zealand. Tiger IT delivered fully integrated managed services across desktop, applications, infrastructure, ICT & security products, WAN & LAN networks and telephony systems. Its complete managed service solutions enable customers to improve organisational performance whilst reducing costs.
Sales Director, ANZ
2010 - 2011
My role was to educate and influence as a challenger, disruptor brand in market for CSG who is a publicly listed (ASX:CSV) Australian owned ICT services and consulting company. Offering end to end technology solutions and services through two business divisions, IT and Print Services.
Sales Director, ANZ
1999 - 2010
My role at Upstream was to represent Australia's largest independent managed print solutions company, developing tailored solutions across automation, bespoke software and output technologies for some of Australia's most recognised brands.
National Sales Director
1997 - 1999
My role was to promote and sell traditional and online business directory services with over 1,000,000 Australian businesses listed across a broad range of categories.
National Sales Director
1992 - 1997
My role was to set up and get operational a national network of 26 retail stores operating as a mobile telephony reseller.