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Channel round-up: Who’s gone where?
A few executives on the move as firms look to bring on board expertise to support growth ambitions
Most of the highlighted executive moves this week took place in the security industry as firms in the sector turn to experience and reward hard work with executive promotions.
Acronis
The security specialist has appointed René Bonvanie as chairman of the board. He has been on the firm’s board since 2014. He is the executive vice-president of strategic accounts at Palo Alto Networks.
In the chairman role he will be working with the rest of the board to advise on the strategy of the business. He knows his stuff and also serves on the boards of Collibra, Guardsquare and Nexthink, and prior to Palo Alto Networks, held executive marketing roles at Business Objects, Veritas and Oracle.
“The appointment of René represents another step forward for Acronis in our cyber protection strategy. In his role as chairman of the board, René will work closely with the executive team to drive the development of innovative cyber protection solutions for the enterprise sector,” said Serguei “SB” Beloussov, Acronis founder and CEO.
KnowBe4
The security training specialist has promoted a couple of its top executives as it pushed for more growth. Chief financial officer Krish Venkataraman and chief revenue officer Lars Letonoff have been given the chance to make a difference as co-president.
“I am honoured by the KnowBe4’s confidence in me and delighted to join forces with Lars to continue moving the organisation forward with a mindset of both rapid growth and rigorous discipline,” said Venkataraman.
Broadband Forum
The organisation has announced its newly elected and re-elected members of its board of directors, re-election of its technical chair and the appointment of its marketing chair.
Chosen for a two-year tenure, experts from a variety of leading operators and product developers have joined the 12-member board, including Francisco de Carvalho of BT, Bernd Hesse of Calix, John Blackford of CommScope, David Sinicrope of Ericsson, Frank Van der Putten of Nokia, and Mauro Tilocca of TIM.
BT’s Kevin Foster is retiring from his role as chairman, which he has held since 2012. He will be replaced by Blackford, project lead on the Forum’s Open Broadband – USP Agent (OB-USP-Agent) implementation.
Greenbone Networks
The vulnerability specialist has turned to Elmar Geese, giving him the chance to make an impression in the newly created role of chief operating officer. Most recently, he was CIO at Berlin health startup machtfit, where he was responsible for the company’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for occupational health management.
“As we continue to grow, it’s essential that we have someone to support us at management level, with a capable head for business and a strong entrepreneurial background,” said Jan-Oliver Wagner, Greenbone founder and CEO.
