Brocade Names Bill Lipsin New Global Channel Chief

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - 10th September, 2013 - Brocade today announced the appointment of Bill Lipsin to lead its global channel in the position of Vice President of Worldwide Channel and Global Systems Integrator Sales. The position, formally held by Regan McGrath, has been modified to include Brocade's global systems integration business with Mr. Lipsin now tasked with channel related business development and operational and sales management of the company's Global Systems Integrator (GSI) team.

He will report directly to Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Brocade, Jeff Lindholm, who said, “In order to leverage customer demand for robust and agile data center networks, Brocade's partners need to be able to deliver strategic counsel and technical excellence across the board. Bill's track record of building robust partner sales organizations is second to none, and I am confident that he has the right mix of industry knowledge, business acumen and leadership skills to drive continued growth across Brocade's partner community.”

In his new role Mr. Lipsin will develop go-to-market strategies and, working with the company's global sales and marketing organizations, define and accelerate channel recruitment and sales programs. Brocade has effectively built a strong worldwide channel through innovative schemes such a financing model that allows its partners to offer financing on a complete customer purchase including all services, support and third-party equipment.

While the company still maintains strong OEM ties with leading technology firms such as Dell, HP, Oracle and IBM, its channel business has grown in recent years as networking building blocks have become an increasingly significant component in the enterprise IT deployments that SI and VARs are tasked with. “With the adoption of fabric-based networking, SDN, and cloud-based computing, end users are actively seeking technology partners that can help them drive business transformation,” says Mr. Lipsin. This is especially true in the Middle East where independence from legacy IT investments has permitted organizations to rapidly deploy the latest technology solutions in order to adapt to industry trends.

With more than 30 years of experience in the high-tech industry, Mr. Lipsin has held a number of top level positions at firms such as Arbor Networks, CA Technologies, Bay Networks and IBM. “Brocade's partner ecosystem is one of the best in the industry, and I am committed to ensuring that we have the right strategy in place to quickly respond to customer and partner needs and fully capitalize on market opportunities as they present themselves,” he said.

About Brocade: Brocade (Nasdaq: BRCD) networking solutions help the world's leading organizations transition smoothly to a world where applications and information reside anywhere. (www.brocade.com)