The new office opening also sees the appointment of a new country manager for New Zealand – Clive Levido, who will be responsible for the business development and managing the daily operations of the new office.

Levido will also work closely with Fortinet's New Zealand channel partners, to promote UTM solutions in the market.

According to Fortinet Australia, the New Zealand branch followed strong growth of UTM take-up in the country.

"Strong demand in New Zealand for unified threat management solutions has necessitated our investment in a strong local presence," said Fortinet regional director Australia and New Zealand, Charles Cote.

"Clive has a remarkable understanding of the local challenges and an impressive track record in account management. We believe that he will be successful in building the local operations and channel relationships that will enable us to expand our business in New Zealand."

Levido was previously client director for enterprise sales at Gen-I New Zealand, winning awards for outstanding sales performance for three consecutive years, since 2005, according to Fortinet.

Prior to Gen-I, Mr. Levido worked as team leader for corporate sales and business manager for TelstraClear, during which he earned the TelstraClear OTT (Over The Top) for 2003 and 2002, and the TelstraSaturn Excellence Award in November 2001.