F5 Networks has appointed a new Chief Technology Officer and created the role of Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer, it revealed yesterday.
Mika Yamamoto, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer, began her new role on Monday. Her responsibilities include leading the company’s marketing strategies across segments, channels and geographies, and ensuring the company’s digital transformation is centred around customer experience.
She joins F5 Networks from Marketo, where she was President up until its acquisition by Adobe, after which she led its go-to-market integration strategy. Other roles include Chief Digital Marketing Officer at SAP, Head of Marketing & Merchandising at Amazon Books, and managerial positions at Microsoft, Gartner and Accenture.
The company has also appointed a new Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Geng Lin, who will be replacing outgoing CTO Ryan Kearny on July 1. As CTO, his focus will be boosting F5’s next-generation technological capabilities, with a focus on innovation, advanced research, and strategic partnerships.
I’m confident that Mika and Geng will help accelerate F5’s transformation to a multi-cloud applications services company
François Locoh-Donou, President and CEO, F5 Networks
Lin is currently Managing Director, Chief Development Officer and Head of Engineering for consumer and community banking at J.P. Morgan Chase. He also has a strong background in the technology sector, with previous roles including CTO positions at Google, Dell, Cisco and more.
Yamamoto and Lin will both be based in Seattle and will report directly to President and CEO of F5 Networks, François Locoh-Donou.
“Both Mika and Geng bring to F5 deep expertise in their respective fields, as well as proven leadership for companies that have undergone business transformations as significant as our own,” said Locoh-Donou. “I’m confident that Mika and Geng will help accelerate F5’s transformation to a multi-cloud applications services company.”
A major focus in Lin’s current role has been the development of the bank’s cloud-based banking architecture – an area of particular expertise, as he has co-authored two books on the subject of cloud and data-intensive computing. That expertise seems likely to have been a significant factor in his appointment.
The announcement comes just a day after Proofpoint announced it was acquiring Meta Networks, with much being made of the latter’s cloud capabilities and the value they’re expected to add to Proofpoint’s offering. End-users and solution providers alike are looking to the cloud as a way to reduce costs, complexity and, potentially, exposure to cyber threats.
However, the move to the cloud comes with new risks as well as benefits, and the rush to innovate faster than the competition can result in security slip-ups. Cloud security is a rapidly growing area of concern for information security professionals, and as such, it’s a significant area of opportunity for service providers. Expect to see more of them putting their cloud capabilities front and centre.
