Acronis Partner Day South Africa 2025

With over 25 years of experience across MSPs, hosting companies, disaster recovery, and cybersecurity sectors, Damon brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. Throughout his career, he has been deeply immersed in safeguarding systems and data, ensuring resilience against cyber threats. A seasoned professional, involved with resolving diverse challenges, and honing skills in risk management, incident response, and security architecture.

CIM-qualified executive with nearly 20 years’ global experience leading B2B and B2C marketing across EMEA, the US, and Japan. I’ve built and led high-performing teams, delivered award-winning campaigns, and driven significant commercial outcomes in both high-growth tech and world-class sports events. In my current role as Senior Director of Marketing, EMEA at Acronis, I lead regional marketing at a pivotal time in Acronis’ growth journey, being responsible for elevating brand presence, accelerating partner acquisition, and building a high-performance marketing engine across the region. This includes aligning regional go-to-market strategies with global priorities, driving pipeline growth through integrated demand generation activity, and enhancing partner engagement through content, events, and automation. Prior to Acronis I was VP of Marketing, EMEA at Pax8, the cloud technology marketplace that services 35k+ MSPs globally. I was appointed as the first marketing leader outside the US and was instrumental in Pax8’s international expansion, building a marketing function from the ground up, launching across 17 countries and contributing to significant revenue growth in-region. Before moving into tech, I led marketing for the travel and hospitality programmes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Rugby World Cup 2019, and Cricket World Cup 2019, managing direct teams in the UK and Japan as well as a network of official distributors. This role sharpened my skills in brand storytelling, international campaign execution, and cross-cultural leadership.

Markus holds a degree in Information Electronics and has more than 25 years of experience in the IT industry with extensive expertise in Business Development, Marketing, Sales, as well as Presales and distribution of products and services. He held various Sales and Channel positions in which he, amongst other things, imparted technological expertise to Partners. Moreover, he was responsible for the expansion of the Channel Business and provided a reputable and knowledgeable reference point for Suppliers as well as Partners. Markus’ mission at Acronis is to drive strategies and share technological expertise with Partners, Customers and Resellers. He works on all Channel levels and is responsible for Acronis trainings and workshops throughout EMEA.

Ronan McCurtin is the Vice President for Europe, Israel and Africa at Acronis, a global leader in cyber protection solutions. With more than 20 years of experience in the international IT and software industry, Ronan brings extensive experience in this segment, where he has successfully led multiple teams. He is highly qualified and experienced in developing and improving channel business and customer relationships to create efficient distribution channels and partnerships. These efforts include working with resellers and managed service providers.