Telkom’s chief commercial officer is stepping down. Brian Armstrong will “retire” at the end of March, group CEO Sipho Maseko said in an e-mail to employees on Thursday.

Armstrong joined Telkom in 2010 from BT Global Services as MD of Telkom Business. He was later appointed as group chief operating officer, before moving into the chief commercial officer role.

“It is with real regret that I have to announce that Dr Brian Armstrong … has informed me that he wishes to retire at the end of this financial year after a long and distinguished career in the technology sector,” Maseko said in the e-mail.

“Brian has played many pivotal leadership roles in our industry over the past 30 or so years and joined Telkom’s executive committee in 2010, when the company was in a perilous position. Brian joined us from BT, where he had been the vice-president for the company’s successful Africa and Middle East business, so he must really have wondered what he got himself into when he arrived at Telkom!”

Most recently, Armstrong has headed up Telkom’s strategy, growth and regulatory initiatives. He also led the acquisition of IT services company Business Connexion.

“I am looking forward to launching the next phase of my career, in research, consulting and perhaps a few board roles. I am passionate about the potential within many digital start-ups and look forward to getting more involved in this arena,” Maseko quoted Armstrong as saying in his note to staff.

“I hope to be able to give back to the industry some of the learnings I have been privileged to gather over the last 30 years, here on the inside of the digital revolution. I leave Telkom as a friend and hope our paths will continue to meet in the future.”

Before joining Telkom, Armstrong spent seven years in various roles at BT Global Services. Before that, he was MD of AST Networks, MD of Icomtek and director of the ICT division at the CSIR, where he worked for 16 years, starting as a systems engineer in 1985. — © 2017 NewsCentral Media