The A/NZ Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) today announced its new board of directors for 2007-08.

SNIA has extended the number of seats on the board to allow the appointment of representatives from system integration organizations and storage users.

The move is to ensure SNIA not only addresses the requirements of major vendors, but takes into account the needs of the broader market, and a wider representation of the storage community.

There are plans to extend SNIA's outreach even further into the end user community so they have representation when planning educational and marketing activities on behalf of the industry.

Board of directors chairman is Jacob Van der Eyk of CA while Clive Gold of EMC is vice chair.

The treasurer is Ross Harper of Hitachi and secretary is Greg Hutton of Hewlett Packard.

Other members of the board include: Bert Noah of Acer; Adrian Sharkey of Alphawest; Ronnie Altit of Dimension Data; Chris Russell of IBM; Craig Tamlin of Quantum; Craig Scroggie of Symantec; and Scott Campey of Clonnaugh.

"The feedback I received from the membership last year was that they wanted the organisation to be more representative of the market," Van der Eyk said.

"Extending the board in this way means we are now better equipped and resourced but more importantly we have now given a voice to a broader community.

"Their influence will help balance our strategy and ensure our programs cater for the differing types of membership and a broader extent of end users across the region."

SNIA will soon announce details of its strategic objectives for the next three years in coming weeks.

SNIA is a not-for-profit global organization made up of more than 420 active member companies plus their worldwide affiliates and close to 7,100 active individuals spanning virtually the entire storage industry.