F5 Networks, the global application networking and security provider, has taken Ben Gibson on-board as an executive team member. The erstwhile Chief Marketing Officer of Veritas will join F5 Networks on August 1 as the Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President. According to F5, which is planning to further expand into the growth areas of application security and cloud application deployment, Gibson will be reporting to the CEO and responsible for overseeing the company’s global marketing strategy.
“As we continue to expand our portfolio, we need an accomplished marketer who understands the evolving needs of the traditional data center customer we have worked with for two decades, as well as new buyers in emerging markets such as security and cloud,” said John McAdam, President and CEO, F5 Networks.
McAdam also added that Ben’s strong industry and marketing expertise, in partnership with sales and product leadership, will position F5 well to take advantage of the growing demand for application services anywhere, any time, and from any device.
Gibson has over 25 years of management experience in product, field, and channel marketing, as well as advertising, digital strategy, and corporate communications. As the Chief Marketing Officer at Veritas, he is claimed to have led a global team of marketing professionals and spearheaded that company’s rebranding efforts following a spin-off from Symantec.
He has also spent five years as the Chief Marketing Officer of Aruba Networks and prior to that he was stationed as the VP of Data Center/ Virtualization Marketing at Cisco Systems, running its outbound marketing strategy and execution. Gibson has also held leadership roles in product marketing at Meru Networks (now Fortinet) and Proxim Corporation. He has a B.A. in Journalism from California State University, Long Beach.
“I’m a big believer in the role of marketing to anticipate new market trends and buyer behaviors. This role is particularly critical as IT organizations are going through a significant demographic shift with decreasing technology specialization and increasing focus on services and development. I’m thrilled to join F5, a company that understands how critical these shifts in how we build, market, and sell are to long-term growth,” said Gibson