Rachel Cox leads MS in Oz

Rachel Cox is the new retail entertainment and devices division services manager for Microsoft's Australia-New Zealand operations, says Australian IT.

Cox has been involved in retail expansion and supply chain projects in Europe and Australasia for the past 10 years. She has worked at Microsoft for the past five years, first in her home country of Ireland, supporting the Europe, Middle East and Africa markets, and then in Singapore, supporting Asia.

In her new role at Microsoft Australia, Cox will oversee the look and feel of Microsoft retailing in Australia and New Zealand. Her responsibilities include in-store aisle displays, managing field sales and field merchandising teams, and retailer training on all new Microsoft products and services.

Following a six-month search for a chief technology officer (CTO), online gambling firm Betfair hopes to use the experience of recently hired IT veteran Tony McAlister to support the company's international expansion, reports vnunet.

Since previous CTO Rorie Devine left the company in May last year, responsibility for IT project delivery was shared by IS director Tony Rigby and development director Tony Stansfield, while the company looked for a replacement.

After an intensive period of research on the company and a meeting with chief executive David Yu, McAlister says he was convinced that Betfair would be a perfect match for his 30-year experience in systems development, Web and mobile, which included launching the data service Vodafone Live across Europe.

Following a long and distinguished career in Canada's defence industry, General Dynamics Canada president John Watts has announced his retirement, states Press Media Wire.

Under his leadership, the company achieved significant success with key programs and product lines including the maritime helicopter project, Aurora CP-140 program, introduction of the vital Point Bio Sentry system, and the significant growth of GD Canada's vehicle electronics business.

In addition, David Ibbetson has been appointed GM of General Dynamics Canada and vice-president of General Dynamics C4 Systems. Ibbetson brings to his new position more than 20 years of international executive and engineering expertise, including Vickers Defence Systems, now part of BAE Systems Land and Armaments Group, and Alcatel.