Aruba Networks Names Hitesh Sheth as Chief Operating Officer
IT News Online Staff
2009-08-18
Aruba Networks Inc., a provider of wireless LANs and secure mobility solutions, has appointed Hitesh Sheth to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer reporting to Dominic Orr, Aruba's President and Chief Executive Officer.
Sheth brings with him over 20 years of enterprise and service provider experience, most recently as the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Juniper Networks' Ethernet Platforms Business Group. In this position, Sheth had overall responsibility for driving the Ethernet switching business.
Aruba said its growth and market expansion since its 2007 public offering prompted creation of the COO position, enabling Orr to focus on strategic partnerships and worldwide field operations.
"Our wireless LAN and services businesses have demonstrated strong growth in recent years, necessitating a dedicated executive to manage our expanding operations, marketing, engineering, and support organizations," said Dominic Orr. "Hitesh's deep enterprise experience, and the knowledge he brings about the service provider market, make him the ideal candidate for this new position."
"Aruba's virtual branch networking and network management solutions are targeted at new markets and channels in which Hitesh has significant expertise. In the international market, service providers fulfill an important role as network integrators, and Hitesh's experience will further our ability to nurture that channel. With Hitesh in place, this appointment positions Aruba for its next phase of growth," added Orr.
Sheth joined Juniper in 2005, and held a number of executive positions during his tenure at the company. In his most recent role as leader of Juniper's switching business, he drove Juniper's entry into the switching market with the introduction of a comprehensive switching portfolio that has generated strong revenue momentum. Prior to that position Sheth led Juniper's Service Layer Technologies Business Group. Under his leadership the company achieved the second largest market share in both network security and secure routing.
Prior to Juniper, Sheth spent seven years at Cisco where he tripled the Metro Ethernet business over four years and positioned the company as the market share leader. He additionally held a number of senior general management, marketing, and business development positions at Cisco. Before Cisco, Sheth held executive and engineering management positions at Liberate Technologies, Oracle Corp. and The Santa Cruz Operation (SCO).
"Enterprises worldwide are striving to boost efficiency, productivity, and collaboration while driving down expenses, and these trends align perfectly with Aruba's secure mobility solutions," said Sheth. "IT departments are rightsizing their networks to strike a practical balance between wired and wireless LANs. Fixed teleworker and hoteling initiatives are rising."
"Integrated network security is now considered business-critical, as is the need to deliver a uniform networking experience to all users, local or remote. These are all Aruba core competencies and the reasons why I believe Aruba's prospects for growth are strong. I look forward to working with Dominic and the Aruba team to execute on this unique vision," added Sheth.
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