Canary IT CEO Stephen Parsonage hands over to James Ormesher
Technology consulting and services firm Canary IT has appointed James Ormesher as its new CEO, with co-founder and former chief Stephen Parsonage moving into a growth-focused role.
Ormesher crosses to Canary IT after an eighteen month-stint as chief growth officer at Tesserent coinciding with its sale to Thales, prior to which he spent close to a decade and a half in senior roles at Telstra Purple and its foundation acquisition VMtech.
Meanwhile, Parsonage has served as Canary CEO since its formation in 2022 as a fresh brand to incorporate acquisitions Diversus Group and BCPrise with IT Consult, which he co-founded alongside Canary director Bill Henderson in Sydney back in 1998.
Now, after more than two and a half decades overseeing operations, Parsonage will focus more keenly on mergers & acquisitions along with other strategic growth initiatives in a newly-created executive director role, with the firm having already added managed services provider Wyntec and its ‘cyber awareness’ subsidiary Layer 8 towards the end of last year.
“It’s ‘game on’ for Canary, and we’re only just getting started,” Parsonage declared at the time, while his CEO replacement, perhaps not incidentally, is familiar enough with integrations; first at Telstra Purple, where he went to become head of sales for advanced technologies and technology services growth after a decade at VMtech, and then at Tesserent, after its $176 million purchase by Thales.
“The time is right to hand the reins to a new leader,” Parsonage said. “James brings the fresh energy and vision we need to continue scaling the business while I shift my focus to growth through strategic opportunities. This is a natural next step, not just for me, but for the business. We’ve built something enduring, and now it's about accelerating that momentum in smart, strategic ways.”
Canary’s board, led by chair Stephe Wilks, said Ormesher’s appointment represented a significant milestone which comes at a pivotal time in the company’s journey, and described its new CEO’s “deep industry expertise, people-first approach, and clear strategic vision” as making him the ideal candidate to guide Canary IT through its next phase of growth.
“This is a business with a strong reputation, talented team, and clear opportunity to accelerate growth,” Ormesher said of his new role. “I’m excited to help deliver on that promise by strengthening our core, expanding our capabilities, and staying relentlessly focused on what matters most: value for our clients and creating a great place to work for our people.”
Concentrating on the government and retail sectors, Canary provides a range of tech offerings grouped around four core lines – cloud, cybersecurity, retail solutions, and managed IT services – from its offices in Sydney and Brisbane, with a national expansion strategy in place and a hint of further acquisitions already well along the pipeline.
