Data Management Professionals South Africa (DMP SA) has appointed Derek Street as Head of Sales and Marketing. With over two decades of experience in the IT and data protection industry, Derek brings a wealth of technical and strategic expertise to the role, positioning DMP SA for further growth and market expansion.
With Street at the helm of Sales and Marketing, DMP SA is on track to strengthen its market leadership, enhance customer engagement, and continue delivering innovative, simplified solutions in the data management space.
Street commenced his career as an ICT technician before moving through roles in account management, product management, and sales leadership, and offers a holistic perspective on both the business and technical aspects of data management. His recent experience in developing and executing complete go-to-market strategies has further refined his capabilities of aligning technical excellence with commercial success.
“DMP SA has built a strong reputation around technical excellence, and I’m looking forward to leveraging that foundation to optimise the sales team even further. While finding my feet at the company, my first priority will be to immerse myself in understanding the business, identify our strengths, and look for areas of possible improvement – while maintaining a simplistic and customer-centric mindset.”
Known for his pragmatic and people-first approach, Street’s leadership style is driven by three simple principles: Is it simple? Does it add value? Is it repeatable? These values, he maintains, are key to ensuring that DMP SA continues to deliver practical, value-driven solutions in an increasingly complex data landscape.
“The field of data management solutions has become highly intricate,” Street explains. “Yet while the technology may be complex, the real challenge is truly understanding what customers actually need. Our task is to simplify that complexity and deliver clear, effective solutions that solve real problems.”
The timing of Street’s appointment aligns with DMP SA’s ambitions of expanding its presence across Southern Africa, helping businesses navigate evolving intricacies around data privacy, protection, and compliance. His company vision is built on growing DMP SA’s strong technical foundation and increasing market visibility through focused, customer-driven strategies.
“DMP SA already excels in what it does best, and that is delivering top-tier technical solutions,” says Street. “The company’s strength lies in its expertise and I will assist in delivering this story to existing and prospective customers.”
While the industry continues to buzz with new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), Street remains grounded in the fundamentals of good business and good customer relationships. “While trends like AI are indeed leading the charge in today’s times, they should never distract from a business’ core objective: understanding the customer’s problem and finding the simplest, most effective way to solve it,” he concludes.
