'Cloud guru' and open source champion Igor Portugal has taken on the new role of Chief Growth Officer at Catalyst Cloud.

Portugal will be leading a growth team committed to making true cloud computing more accessible to businesses in Aotearoa.

"It's really important decision makers know they have a local expert provider," says Igor. "At Catalyst Cloud, we are uniquely placed to help businesses minimise risk and improve data resiliency with three local data centres here in New Zealand."

With New Zealand businesses relying more heavily on cloud native and multi-cloud solutions, the local service, competitive pricing and Cloud Native Computing Foundation Certified Kubernetes platform have helped Catalyst Cloud enjoy strong growth in their four years of operation. Catalyst Cloud clients range from AUT, Māori Television and GNS Science to smaller innovators such as Nyriad and Dragonfly Data Science.

"Igor has been a great champion of Catalyst Cloud's services since he joined the Catalyst Group," says Catalyst Cloud Managing Director, Bruno Lago. "I am thrilled to now have him full time in the Catalyst Cloud business. Igor is a pioneer of open source and a proponent of cloud computing. He is an inspiring and knowledgeable person for our team and for anyone whose company is considering how to exploit true cloud more fully."

Portugal has been with parent company Catalyst IT since January 2017. This re-deployment within the group reflects a commitment by the Catalyst Cloud board to invest in accelerating the growth of the now independent cloud computing innovation business.

Prior to joining the Catalyst group, Portugal's long involvement in the local software as a service and open source community included co-founding New Zealand's first Linux service provider in 1999 and co-founding Vadacom cloud based phone systems in 2005, growing the business over the following 12 years.

Catalyst Cloud is making cloud computing more accessible with powerful, easy to implement, and cost effective solutions, developed especially for the local market. The company recently released New Zealand's first Cloud Native Computing Foundation Certified Kubernetes platform - and the first local explainer video for Kubernetes.

About Catalyst Cloud: The New Zealand owned company has offices in Wellington and Auckland and provides locally based cloud services at international standards. Catalyst Cloud has been offering Cloud Computing services for over four years and became an independent company within the Catalyst IT group in August 2017.