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Veteran enterprise sales leader to scale go-to-market across healthcare, financial services, and regulated industries
DALLAS, March 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Armor, a global leader in cloud-native managed detection and response (MDR), today announced the appointment of Jeff Baker as Head of Global Sales, reporting directly to Founder and CEO Chris Drake. Baker brings over 30 years of industry experience building and scaling enterprise sales organizations across AI, cybersecurity, cloud, and infrastructure, and will lead Armor's global revenue strategy across healthcare, financial services, and high-tech verticals.
The appointment follows a period of accelerating growth for Armor, including recognition by Frost & Sullivan as a global MDR leader and the launch of Nexus, Armor's AI security operations platform.
"Jeff is the kind of leader who builds the engine, not just drives it. He's built sales organizations from scratch, won against much larger competitors, and done it across some of the most demanding verticals in enterprise technology."
Chris Drake, Founder and CEO, Armor
Baker joins Armor from DeepL, where as Head of Enterprise Sales for the Americas he rapidly scaled the enterprise sales organization while driving significant year-over-year revenue growth. He previously served as Regional Vice President at Hitachi Vantara, leading one of the company's largest regions across 17 states, and at VMware built the Commercial Networking, Security, and Cloud Management vertical across the U.S. and Canada into one of its top-performing organizations. Baker brings deep healthcare experience, having built and led healthcare-focused verticals at both Nutanix and VMware, and his track record selling into complex, compliance-driven environments aligns closely with Armor's mission to secure organizations in healthcare, financial services, and other regulated sectors.
"What drew me to Armor is its mission and its ability to deliver real AI-enabled security for organizations in highly regulated industries like healthcare and financial services. I'm excited to help scale our global reach and ensure more CISOs have a partner who truly understands both their threat landscape and their regulatory reality."
Jeff Baker, Head of Global Sales, Armor
Armor has long valued hiring veterans for their purpose-driven DNA, a mindset that is embedded in the company from the top. Armor's founder is a veteran, and Jeff continues that tradition. A highly decorated U.S. Air Force veteran, he served during Operation Desert Storm as the lead electronic warfare intelligence officer. His leadership philosophy is shaped by service and grounded in accountability, transparency, and building high-performing teams.
Armor protects more than 1,700 organizations across 40 countries and has significantly strengthened its global presence over the past year. Baker's appointment positions the company to accelerate enterprise adoption of its managed detection and response and compliance solutions across regulated industries worldwide.
About Armor
Armor is a global leader in cloud-native managed detection and response. Trusted by over 1,700 organizations across 40 countries, Armor delivers cybersecurity, compliance consulting, and 24/7 managed defense built for transparency, speed, and results. By combining human expertise with AI-driven precision, Armor safeguards critical environments to outpace evolving threats and build lasting resilience. For more information visit our website, follow us on LinkedIn, or request a free Cyber Resilience assessment.
Follow us on LinkedIn, X.
Media Contact:
Michele Glassman
Marketing Director, Armor
Email: michele.glassman@armor.com
Website: www.armor.com
Veteran enterprise sales leader to scale go-to-market across healthcare, financial services, and regulated industries
DALLAS, March 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Armor, a global leader in cloud-native managed detection and response (MDR), today announced the appointment of Jeff Baker as Head of Global Sales, reporting directly to Founder and CEO Chris Drake. Baker brings over 30 years of industry experience building and scaling enterprise sales organizations across AI, cybersecurity, cloud, and infrastructure, and will lead Armor's global revenue strategy across healthcare, financial services, and high-tech verticals.
The appointment follows a period of accelerating growth for Armor, including recognition by Frost & Sullivan as a global MDR leader and the launch of Nexus, Armor's AI security operations platform.
"Jeff is the kind of leader who builds the engine, not just drives it. He's built sales organizations from scratch, won against much larger competitors, and done it across some of the most demanding verticals in enterprise technology."
Chris Drake, Founder and CEO, Armor
Baker joins Armor from DeepL, where as Head of Enterprise Sales for the Americas he rapidly scaled the enterprise sales organization while driving significant year-over-year revenue growth. He previously served as Regional Vice President at Hitachi Vantara, leading one of the company's largest regions across 17 states, and at VMware built the Commercial Networking, Security, and Cloud Management vertical across the U.S. and Canada into one of its top-performing organizations. Baker brings deep healthcare experience, having built and led healthcare-focused verticals at both Nutanix and VMware, and his track record selling into complex, compliance-driven environments aligns closely with Armor's mission to secure organizations in healthcare, financial services, and other regulated sectors.
"What drew me to Armor is its mission and its ability to deliver real AI-enabled security for organizations in highly regulated industries like healthcare and financial services. I'm excited to help scale our global reach and ensure more CISOs have a partner who truly understands both their threat landscape and their regulatory reality."
Jeff Baker, Head of Global Sales, Armor
Armor has long valued hiring veterans for their purpose-driven DNA, a mindset that is embedded in the company from the top. Armor's founder is a veteran, and Jeff continues that tradition. A highly decorated U.S. Air Force veteran, he served during Operation Desert Storm as the lead electronic warfare intelligence officer. His leadership philosophy is shaped by service and grounded in accountability, transparency, and building high-performing teams.
Armor protects more than 1,700 organizations across 40 countries and has significantly strengthened its global presence over the past year. Baker's appointment positions the company to accelerate enterprise adoption of its managed detection and response and compliance solutions across regulated industries worldwide.
About Armor
Armor is a global leader in cloud-native managed detection and response. Trusted by over 1,700 organizations across 40 countries, Armor delivers cybersecurity, compliance consulting, and 24/7 managed defense built for transparency, speed, and results. By combining human expertise with AI-driven precision, Armor safeguards critical environments to outpace evolving threats and build lasting resilience. For more information visit our website, follow us on LinkedIn, or request a free Cyber Resilience assessment.
Follow us on LinkedIn, X.
Media Contact:
Michele Glassman
Marketing Director, Armor
Email: michele.glassman@armor.com
Website: www.armor.com
** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **
Armor Appoints Jeff Baker as Head of Global Sales
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AUCKLAND, New Zealand, March 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtual IT Group (VITG) and The Instillery have launched Zero Trust Detection & Response (ZDR), the first purpose-built Zero Trust network protection service designed specifically for small and medium-sized organisations across ANZ. Until now, these organisations have faced rising cyber threats with little choice but to rely on outdated, legacy network security.
The service can deliver the same level of protection used by banks and large enterprises without the specialist team or the cost typically required.
"EDR and identity protection tools have evolved rapidly, but network security hasn't kept pace," said Jeremy Nees, Chief Product Officer and Zero Trust Practice Lead at Virtual IT Group. "For the first time, midmarket organisations can have full endpoint, identity, and network security working together as one."
"Many midmarket businesses are still relying on firewalls and VPNs that simply weren't designed for today's advanced cyber-attack patterns or modern workforce realities. Most tools in the SMB space only scan a fraction of network traffic. It's like boarding a plane where only 10% of passengers have been screened. Our ZDR offering eliminates that blind spot. With this service, we deliver true 24/7 security monitoring and response: deep packet inspection across all traffic, not just small samples, local ANZ threat intelligence, and configuration and oversight by elite engineers."
This is the first service launched since CEO Maurice McCarthy joined the company in February. "The Zero Trust Detection and Response service is unique in its customer centric design and can be added immediately to a customer's environment, without having to switch managed service providers if they're not ready to do so. Secure, sector-compliant, and AI ready business systems are a non-negotiable for our economy to thrive. Crucially for this end of the market, the offering is priced on a peruser, per month model, removing the financial barrier that has historically kept high grade network protection out of reach."
Virtual IT Group and The Instillery, who came together through an acquisition in 2025, have spent more than a decade implementing Zero Trust architectures for some of the most secure organisations in ANZ. The new ZDR service packages that expertise into a simple, scalable service designed for midmarket needs.
Now with The Instillery's expertise on board, Virtual IT Group holds one of the strongest Zero Trust capability sets in ANZ, with a dedicated Zero Trust practice and four engineers certified through Zscaler Aces, including Masaki Takeda and Ronnie Meekers. The ZDR launch signals a step forward for traditional managed services and managed security as a combined category.
After successful implementation with pilot customers, ZDR is available immediately across Australia and New Zealand.
About Virtual IT Group (VITG) and The Instillery
Virtual IT Group is one of the fastest growing mid-market technology and cybersecurity providers in Australia and New Zealand. With scale, local customer support, and proven expertise, we deliver end-to-end managed IT and security services making our clients' business systems stronger, smarter and more secure every day. In 2025 Virtual IT Group acquired The Instillery, a New Zealand-based technology services firm specialising in digital transformation and capability building for growth-stage businesses. Together, we operate as a united entity serving ANZ mid-market.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, March 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtual IT Group (VITG) and The Instillery have launched Zero Trust Detection & Response (ZDR), the first purpose-built Zero Trust network protection service designed specifically for small and medium-sized organisations across ANZ. Until now, these organisations have faced rising cyber threats with little choice but to rely on outdated, legacy network security.
The service can deliver the same level of protection used by banks and large enterprises without the specialist team or the cost typically required.
"EDR and identity protection tools have evolved rapidly, but network security hasn't kept pace," said Jeremy Nees, Chief Product Officer and Zero Trust Practice Lead at Virtual IT Group. "For the first time, midmarket organisations can have full endpoint, identity, and network security working together as one."
"Many midmarket businesses are still relying on firewalls and VPNs that simply weren't designed for today's advanced cyber-attack patterns or modern workforce realities. Most tools in the SMB space only scan a fraction of network traffic. It's like boarding a plane where only 10% of passengers have been screened. Our ZDR offering eliminates that blind spot. With this service, we deliver true 24/7 security monitoring and response: deep packet inspection across all traffic, not just small samples, local ANZ threat intelligence, and configuration and oversight by elite engineers."
This is the first service launched since CEO Maurice McCarthy joined the company in February. "The Zero Trust Detection and Response service is unique in its customer centric design and can be added immediately to a customer's environment, without having to switch managed service providers if they're not ready to do so. Secure, sector-compliant, and AI ready business systems are a non-negotiable for our economy to thrive. Crucially for this end of the market, the offering is priced on a peruser, per month model, removing the financial barrier that has historically kept high grade network protection out of reach."
Virtual IT Group and The Instillery, who came together through an acquisition in 2025, have spent more than a decade implementing Zero Trust architectures for some of the most secure organisations in ANZ. The new ZDR service packages that expertise into a simple, scalable service designed for midmarket needs.
Now with The Instillery's expertise on board, Virtual IT Group holds one of the strongest Zero Trust capability sets in ANZ, with a dedicated Zero Trust practice and four engineers certified through Zscaler Aces, including Masaki Takeda and Ronnie Meekers. The ZDR launch signals a step forward for traditional managed services and managed security as a combined category.
After successful implementation with pilot customers, ZDR is available immediately across Australia and New Zealand.
About Virtual IT Group (VITG) and The Instillery
Virtual IT Group is one of the fastest growing mid-market technology and cybersecurity providers in Australia and New Zealand. With scale, local customer support, and proven expertise, we deliver end-to-end managed IT and security services making our clients' business systems stronger, smarter and more secure every day. In 2025 Virtual IT Group acquired The Instillery, a New Zealand-based technology services firm specialising in digital transformation and capability building for growth-stage businesses. Together, we operate as a united entity serving ANZ mid-market.
** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **
Virtual IT Group Solves Mid-Market Security Blind Spot with Zero Trust 24/7 Detection & Response
