CEO Tristan Goode said McLaren's and Kepes' expertise will enable Aptira to identify and capitalise on industry opportunities as it continues to expand into Europe and the US.

Aptira operates in the global OpenStack market and has two seats on the OpenStack Foundation board of directors. It also employs three of the 12 OpenStack ambassadors.

Max McLaren is Red Hat's regional vice president and general manager for Australia and New Zealand.

"Being part of Red Hat for the past 10 years has reinforced my belief in the power of community-based, collaborative development which is the cornerstone of innovative, reliable and cost-effective alternatives to the traditional way IT has been delivered in our industry," said McLaren.

"With the increased connectivity that characterises the world in which we work, collaborate, consume, and entertain ourselves today, I am convinced Open Source and the cloud will revolutionise every organisation and every market.

"I look forward to supporting the Aptira team in leading this change, and partnering with them to continue helping Australian organisations successfully realise the opportunities these trends provide."

Ben Kepes (pictured) is an investor, industry commentator and subject matter expert. He is an active member of Clouderati, a global group of thought leaders in cloud computing.

"I consider a few questions before becoming involved with a company: is the company in an important space, is the company doing really good things in that space and, most importantly, is the company full of truly good people?" said Kepes.

"Aptira ticks all three boxes and I'm proud to be helping them with their journey."

McLaren and Kepes join DreamHost CEO Simon Anderson, who has been an advisor to Aptira since 2013.