Brocade Announces Executive Leadership Transition

Press release:

Brocade Announces Executive Leadership Transition

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Michael Klayko to Resign as CEO Upon Identification of a Successor

SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - Aug 16, 2012) - The Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD) Board of Directors and CEO Michael A. Klayko announced today that Mr. Klayko intends to resign from his role as CEO once a successor is identified by the Board and a transition is completed. The Board has formed a search committee and will retain an executive recruiting firm to identify the best candidate to lead the next phase of Brocade's growth. Mr. Klayko will continue to serve as CEO of Brocade during the search.

Brocade's Chairman, Dave House, said, "We want to thank Mike for his more than seven years of service as CEO. He has led us through two major acquisitions and has positioned us as a technology leader and world-class provider of networking solutions. We wish him the best and appreciate his continued service to Brocade as the Company works to identify the right leader to assume his role."

Mr. House continued, "The Board will prioritize the search process in order to facilitate a seamless transition as expeditiously as possible. In doing so, the Board will consider all qualified individuals. In the meantime, we remain focused on the business and enhancing shareholder value."

Michael Klayko, CEO of Brocade, stated, "Decisions like these are never easy, but I believe it is the right time. The Company is in a great position financially, and our product pipeline will continue to strengthen and clearly separate Brocade from other networking providers. Until a successor is identified, I remain focused on my role as CEO and on continuing to execute our strategy."

Cautionary Statement

This press release contains statements that are forward looking in nature. These statements are based on current expectations on the date of this press release and involve a number of risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to differ. Certain of these and other risks are set forth in more detail in our Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended April 28, 2012 and in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in Brocade's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 29, 2011. Brocade does not assume any obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new developments or otherwise.

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)

Brocade, Brocade Assurance, the B-wing symbol, DCX, Fabric OS, MLX, SAN Health, VCS, and VDX are registered trademarks, and AnyIO, Brocade One, CloudPlex, Effortless Networking, ICX, NET Health, OpenScript, and The Effortless Network are trademarks of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., in the United States and/or in other countries. Other brands, products, or service names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners.

News Release from NetApp - Transition

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Cisco and NetApp Help Customers Accelerate Transition to Microsoft Private Cloud

Avnet Technology Solutions Expands Its FlexPod Services to Offer Custom Configuration of the Validated Cisco, Microsoft, and NetApp Solution to Resellers

SAN JOSE AND SUNNYVALE, Calif. — February 23, 2012 — As data center virtualization becomes more pervasive, IT functions are increasingly seeking to lower cost of ownership and improve manageability by unifying silos of information with shared IT infrastructures and multi-hypervisor environments. To meet growing customer demand for choice and flexibility, Cisco and NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) are announcing the availability of a Cisco® Validated Design (CVD) for the FlexPod™ shared infrastructure and Microsoft private cloud. The new FlexPod solution validated with Microsoft private cloud builds on a reference architecture that was announced last year and is designed to reduce infrastructure and application deployment time from days to hours while helping achieve greater utilization of physical and virtual resource pools. Part of a series of innovative joint solutions that Cisco and NetApp are bringing to market with support from Microsoft, the FlexPod solution is currently available for demonstration in select Microsoft Technology Centers (MTCs) around the world, allowing partners and customers the opportunity to see firsthand the many benefits of the solution.  

To help channel partners further accelerate and simplify customers’ transitions to private clouds, Cisco and NetApp are working with Avnet Technology Solutions, an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), to expand its FlexPod Services to provide partners in the United States and Canada with the validated, pretested data center solution for the cloud.

Key Facts / Highlights:

New FlexPod solution validated with Microsoft private cloud

• Validated by Microsoft as part of its Private Cloud Fast Track program, the new FlexPod validated shared infrastructure features the Cisco UCS™ server, Cisco network switches, NetApp® unified storage systems running on Data ONTAP® software, and the Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track architecture with Windows Server 2008 R2 and System Center.
• FlexPod is a pretested architectural design guide that combines networking, computing, and storage in a shared infrastructure and supports multiple applications and workloads to help customers accelerate and simplify their transition to the cloud. The flexible, scalable shared infrastructure is pretested to lower deployment risk, increase data center efficiencies, and create a flexible information technology (IT) environment to build a Microsoft private cloud.
• The FlexPod solution validated with Microsoft private cloud goes beyond virtualization to drive real business value through deep insight into applications and to simplify the evolution to IT as a Service (ITaaS). The platform allows customers to orchestrate IT resources so they can deliver applications as services, rapidly resolve problems, increase application uptime, and meet desired Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• The FlexPod solution validated with Microsoft private cloud is deployed at select MTCs worldwide, allowing customers to see the power of Microsoft System Center with Windows Server Hyper-V on the FlexPod shared infrastructure. Partners and customers have direct access to FlexPod deployments and can engage with Cisco, Microsoft, and NetApp technology experts through briefings, architectural design sessions, and proof-of-concept engagements.

Avnet Support for the FlexPod solution validated with Microsoft private cloud

• As part of its FlexPod Services, Avnet will now provide its channel partners with a single source for delivery of the Microsoft private cloud built on FlexPod solution. Avnet will offer multiple configurations to help channel partners meet different customer requirements, especially for those working with customers in the high-growth vertical markets of energy, finance, government, healthcare, and retail.
• Avnet’s expanded FlexPod Services are designed to help channel partners deliver the FlexPod solution validated with Microsoft private cloud quickly and easily. They include pre-sales support, consolidated quoting, single order capability, assembly and testing, ship complete, and tracking. Additionally, channel partners will be able to work hand in hand with a dedicated Avnet team to support all of their FlexPod needs, as well as draw upon additional support and expertise from Avnet's dedicated Cisco and NetApp teams.
• FlexPod Services from Avnet allow channel partners to focus their resources on core business strategies while Avnet handles the complexities of solution development and supply-chain management.

Cisco and NetApp FlexPod Shared Infrastructure

• Since Cisco and NetApp’s FlexPod was announced in November 2010, both channel partners and customers have embraced the benefits of the solution. To date, approximately 500 joint channel partners worldwide are certified to sell FlexPod and more than 600 customers have deployed FlexPod in their data center infrastructure, representing more than 400% growth in customer adoption since May 2011.
• To provide greater flexibility and customer choice, FlexPod currently offers 13 Cisco Validated Designs supporting multiple hypervisors, business applications and workloads. Cisco and NetApp will sponsor Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) 2012, where these and other private cloud solutions will be demonstrated.
• NetApp and Cisco offer programs to support FlexPod to give channel partners access to a wide range of unique tools and resources to help partners differentiate their services, speed time to market, and grow their revenues. The channel programs include technical trainings and service benefits, as well as marketing and sales support.

Supportive Quotes:

• Brad Anderson, corporate vice president, Management and Security, Microsoft
  “Customers find unique value in Microsoft’s private cloud because of our cross-platform approach—you can build one private cloud for your heterogeneous workloads and platforms. The FlexPod solution validated with Microsoft private cloud implements best practices for effectively integrating server, storage, and network elements with Windows Server, Hyper-V, and System Center. By combining Cisco and NetApp solutions with Windows Server Hyper-V and System Center, we can give our joint customers an integrated, agile, and efficient data center environment.”

• Carol Kinney, vice president for FlexPod Services, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas
  “Working collaboratively with Microsoft, Cisco, and NetApp, Avnet focused on streamlining the development and delivery of Microsoft private cloud built on FlexPod solutions for our channel partners. Avnet also created a suite of services to shorten and simplify the sales cycle, making it easier for our channel partners to go to market with this new solution. Avnet's FlexPod Services and our single-resource capabilities allow us to ensure that our channel partners, and their customers, have a consistent and positive experience.”

• Satinder Sethi, vice president, Server Access Virtualization Technology Group, Cisco“The FlexPod validated with Microsoft private cloud reinforces Cisco’s commitment to offering a range of data center solutions that enable our channel partners to offer customers more choice and flexibility. Microsoft customers can now use shared infrastructure and integrated management to complement Microsoft’s deep application insights, along with the ability to automatically orchestrate resources from the FlexPod, to enable customers to deliver applications as services and meet demanding business service-level agreements.”

• Phil Brotherton, vice president of the Enterprise Software Group, NetApp“The strong market demand for Microsoft private cloud solutions built on NetApp and Cisco technologies further reinforces the importance of this strategic three-way partnership. Together, we are bringing compelling, innovative solutions to market that enable our joint partners and customers to build secure private clouds optimized for efficiency, flexibility, and fast time to value. NetApp’s ongoing and proven integrations with Cisco UCS and Windows Server, Hyper-V, System Center, and applications underscore our commitment, and we look forward to much more to come at the Microsoft Management Summit in April.”

Additional Resources:

• The Cisco Validated Design for the FlexPod solution validated with Microsoft private cloud.
• Other Cisco tested and validated designs for key Microsoft applications, such as Exchange, SharePoint, and SQL Server--are also available at www.cisco.com/go/microsoft.
• To learn more about the Microsoft private cloud platform visit www.microsoft.com/readynow/ and www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/new.aspx.
• Customers and channel partners interested in purchasing the FlexPod solution validated with Microsoft private cloud should contact Avnet at 1-855-GO-FLEXPOD (1-855-463-5397).
• Learn more about Cisco Unified Computing.
• Get information about NetApp Microsoft Private Clouds.
• Partners and customers can learn more about the Microsoft Fast Track Architecture Guide.
• Read more about the NetApp Private Cloud Solution Brief.
• Connect with NetApp experts and storage enthusiasts in the NetApp Community.
• Visit the NetApp for Microsoft Environments blog: blogs.netapp.com/msenviro/.
• Follow NetApp on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
• Follow Cisco on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Nuance Survey Taps Smartphone Users

News release from Nuance Communications:

Nuance Survey Taps Smartphone Users for Insight on their Mobile App Usage Patterns

Survey Finds Mobile Apps Materially Influence Brand Perception

BURLINGTON, Mass. - January 31, 2012 — Nuance Communications today released survey results that shed the light on the consumer usage of mobile apps and their impact on companies’ customer service strategies.

Mobile apps are an increasingly important channel for customer service. When you consider the forecast that nearly 2 billion people will have smartphones by 2017, coupled with the fact that consumers spend nearly 10 percent more time using mobile apps than they spend on the Internet, it is clear why there is significant opportunity, if not a strategic imperative, for companies to leverage the mobile channel for customer service.

The Brand Impact of Mobile Apps on Company Perception and Customer Satisfaction

The survey found that the benefits of companies providing a mobile app for customer service uses are two-fold: company perception and customer satisfaction. The majority of smartphone users surveyed (72 percent) said that they have a more positive view of a company if they have a mobile app. And they won’t keep it to themselves. Eighty-one percent will tell others about a positive app experience. Weighing in on how mobile apps would increase their levels of customer satisfaction, 35 percent said that effortless transition to a live agent from a mobile app is the feature most likely to drive mobile app usage, while 48 percent want more: offer more functionality (21 percent) or find other ways to ‘better meet my needs’.

Mobile App Downloads Continue Upward Growth

According to the survey, 89 percent of smartphone users download at least one new mobile app per month, signaling that consumers are willing to download and try new apps. Seventy percent of consumers surveyed said they have more than 10 apps on their phones, while 29 percent have more than 30 apps on their phone, and another 12 percent have more than 50.

While the download number continues on an upward pattern, a recent study from Flurry found that mobile apps are quickly abandoned: after just three months, only 24 percent of consumers continue to use an app they have downloaded, and after 12 months’ time the majority of apps (96 percent) are no longer used.

“Companies hoping to engage with their customers through mobile apps must not only consider how they attract first-time users, they must also consider retention strategies and how they keep consumers returning regularly to this critical channel,” said Robert Gary, vice president and general manager, mobile care of Nuance Communications.

Companies Have Opportunity to Leverage Mobile Apps for Customer Service

While consumers continue to initiate their communications with customer service primarily through traditional channels, such as the phone and Web, mobile apps are becoming an increasingly important customer engagement channel. The uptake varies by vertical, more than half of smartphone users have downloaded their bank and their carrier’s app, with 45 percent of users stating “it’s simply more convenient” – but just because they have downloaded the app, doesn’t mean they use it.

• Carrier apps: Sixty percent of smartphone users have downloaded the app – of those surveyed only 25 percent of them use it, and;
• Banking apps: Fifty-five percent of smartphone users have downloaded the app – of those surveyed only 27 percent of them use it,
• Brokerage apps: Twenty-seven percent of smartphone users have downloaded the app – of those surveyed 18 percent of them use it.

Keith Dawson, Ovum analyst and author of the 2012 Trends to Watch: Contact Centers Report, adds: “Consumer expectations for seamless self-service are shifting. What once was considered a nice-to-have is now a must-have. Consumers expect the ability to easily move from their mobile device to other channels. Companies that can successfully deliver this multi-channel experience will be able to differentiate themselves from the competition, and more importantly better serve their customers.”

Gary continued, “While mobile apps are playing an increasingly important role in customer service, the survey results underscore the opportunity for companies to differentiate by delivering an integrated, highly personalized cross-channel customer experience. Today’s consumers look for convenience and they are shifting their spending to Companies that keep them better informed and are easier to do business with. Providing a powerful mobile experience is central to building customer loyalty.”

The survey, conducted by Vocalabs, included a random sample of 991 smartphone users in the United States and Canada, to get a better understanding of their mobile app usage and appetite for customer self-service through their mobile device.

Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) is a leading provider of voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with devices and systems. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.