From left: Digiweb chair Colm Piercy with new CEO Paul Rellis. Image: Digiweb
The global expertise of Paul Rellis is a strong signal of intent for ambitious brands Viatel and Digiweb.
Paul Rellis, the former chief operations officer for Microsoft Europe and former head of Microsoft Ireland, has been named the new CEO of Digiweb Group and its western Europe fibre platform, Viatel.
Limerick native Rellis led Microsoft in Ireland and Europe during the company’s critical transition from a traditional software vendor into a cloud-based entity, overseeing the establishment of some of its major data centres in Dublin.
“Paul’s track record of business leadership and his insights, expertise and networks both here and across Europe mean he is the right person to lead Digiweb Group through its next phase of growth,” said Digiweb’s founder, Colm Piercy.
“Paul and I share a vision for what can be achieved by Viatel and Digiweb in the years ahead and I look forward to supporting him in my role as chair as he implements a new strategy for the group.”
Shared vision
Outgoing CEO of Digiweb and Viatel, Piercy will become chair of Digiweb.
In the course of his 21 years leading Digiweb, Piercy grew the organisation to more than 120 people and a nationwide data and telecoms business.
Parallel to that, he also oversaw a series of successful acquisitions that brought IP and technology into the organisation.
Most notable was the western European expansion of Viatel into a 12-city network of 8,400km of fibre, seven data centres and 150 points of presence with direct reach into cities such as London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris and Zurich.
Viatel was acquired by the Zayo Group in 2015 for €95m in an all-cash deal.
Rellis said he is joining Digiweb and Viatel at an important time.
“There are significant opportunities for us to build on our track record of quality and customer service for both commercial businesses and residential customers under the Viatel and Digiweb brands,” Rellis said.
“We see significant growth opportunities both in Ireland and internationally, and I am excited to work with the team to further build this great independent Irish company. We are particularly well positioned and equipped to support our customers as they seek to embrace the opportunities that digital transformation presents.”
