Plexxi, a pioneer of next-generation networking products, Monday named former top EMC executive and serial entrepreneur Richard Napolitano as CEO to continue the company’s expansion and help drive the networking industry’s transition to an application- and data-focused era powered by the explosive growth in mobile, social media, cloud and Big Data. Meanwhile, Plexxi's founder David Husak will serve as executive vice president of strategy and engineering, focusing on the development of Plexxi’s industry-leading networking technology and product.
Napolitano has a long track record of scaling businesses to record growth while disrupting established industries. He has held many top leadership roles in the technology industry, including president of the Unified Storage Division at EMC Corporation, the world’s largest data storage provider, and president and general manager of U.S. sales for Sun Microsystems, which was acquired by Oracle. He also served as chairman, CEO and president of Pirus Networks, which was acquired by Sun, and was also the cofounder and CEO of Data Kinesis, which has been acquired by Adaptec.
Plexxi also appointed Tim Lieto as senior vice president of sales and customer service to lead the company’s worldwide sales and channel effort and expand its ecosystem of distribution partners and systems integrators.
Richard Napolitano, CEO Plexxi
We stand today at a transition point in the IT landscape. This transformation will upend the networking industry as we know it and affect how businesses operate for decades to come. Plexxi has helped define ‘What’s next’ in networking so I’m excited to join the company as Plexxi leads the way into this new IT era and defines the next generation of networking architecture.
David Husak, founder and EVP Strategy & Marketing, Plexxi
When I founded Plexxi, I fully anticipated the transition from building the technology to taking it broadly to market. For any company to break through in a highly competitive market, there must be a strong partnership between the technology vision and commercial leadership. I couldn’t be more thrilled to have someone of Rich’s talent and expertise beside me to lead Plexxi through this transformational market opportunity.
