SANTA ANA, Calif., Nov. 1, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- STEC, Inc.
(Nasdaq:STEC), The SSD Company(TM), a leading global provider of
solid-state drive (SSD) technologies and products, today announced that
industry veteran Ali Zadeh has joined the company as Corporate Senior
Vice President and General Manager to help develop its systems and
software technology strategy. Mr. Zadeh is chartered with expanding
STEC's SSD offerings through the definition, development and sales of
new software and systems that take advantage of the company's
intellectual property portfolio. These offerings will help enable
enterprise IT and data center managers to accelerate user access to
data and help to effectively manage the exponential growth in data.

Mr. Zadeh joins STEC with more than 25 years of leadership experience
in the enterprise storage, data center systems, and software
virtualization markets, and has a proven strong, revenue growth track
record. His responsibilities will be focused on business development
with enterprise OEMs and independent software vendors (ISVs), as well
as building partnerships that define and introduce new, unique and
innovative hardware and software solutions to leverage STEC's
intellectual property and expertise in solid-state technology. In this
role, he is also chartered to explore the next-generation solid-state
platform evolution and to expand STEC's reach in enterprise IT and data
center environments.

"Ali joins STEC at a time when the enterprise SSD market is expected to
achieve rapid growth over the next few years and his track record of
leadership in building and strengthening organizations will help
further expand our business opportunities in both the enterprise
storage and server market segments," said Manouch Moshayedi, STEC's
Chairman and CEO. "His past experiences with innovative start-ups and
established storage players make Ali ideally suited for his new
position with STEC."

During the past 7 years, Mr. Zadeh was responsible for building
start-up companies toward rapid sales growth and successful exit
strategies, which included Scalent, Inc. (acquired by Dell Inc.),
NeoPath, Inc. (acquired by Cisco Systems, Inc.) and InfoBlox, Inc. Mr.
Zadeh also served as Vice President of Intercontinental Operations and
Vice President of International Sales for Network Appliance, Inc.,
where he led global sales and operations teams build revenue and
maximize gross margins in vertical market segments.

"STEC is a true innovator and leader within the enterprise SSD industry
and I am thrilled to become part of this exciting company in a
high-growth market segment," said Mr. Zadeh. "I look forward to
strategically utilizing the company's IP portfolio, system-level
expertise, and passion for innovation to expand the use of solid-state
storage in enterprise IT and data center environments around the globe.
My goal is to help define and build creative solid-state solutions that
are optimized to help manage the data deluge and lower TCO in the
enterprise."

About STEC

STEC, Inc., The SSD Company(TM), is a leading global provider of
solid-state drive (SSD) technologies and solutions tailored to meet the
high-performance, high-reliability needs of original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs). With headquarters in Santa Ana, California and
locations worldwide, STEC leverages almost two decades of solid-state
drive knowledge and experience to deliver the most comprehensive line
of SSDs to the storage industry. For more information, visit the
company's web site at http://www.stec-inc.com.

The STEC, Inc. logo is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=1079

STEC, the STEC logo, and The SSD Company are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of STEC, Inc. in the United States and certain
other countries. All other trademarks or brand names referred to herein
are the property of their respective owners.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995

This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties, including those statements concerning enterprise OEMs
and independent software vendors (ISVs) adoption of enterprise SSD
products and solutions; the growth of the enterprise storage and server
markets; STEC's leadership position; the growth of sales of STEC's
enterprise SSD products and solutions to enterprise OEM and ISV
customers, and enterprise IT and data center environments; and the
expected benefit and growth of STEC's systems and software technology
strategy and expansion of sales as a result of hiring Mr. Zadeh. Such
forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and
involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could
delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes
and results to differ materially from current expectations. Important
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements are detailed in
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission made from time to
time by STEC, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K, its Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q, and its Current Reports on Form 8-K. The
information contained in this press release is a statement of STEC's
present intention, belief or expectation. STEC may change its
intention, belief or expectation, at any time and without notice, based
upon any changes in such factors, in STEC's assumptions or otherwise.
STEC undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring
after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated
events.


CONTACT: Scott Harlin
         Public Relations Manager
         STEC, Inc.
         (949) 260-8231
         sharlin@stec-inc.com