F5 Appoints Data Solutions Sales and Marketing Vice Presidents

F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV), the global leader in Application Delivery Networking (ADN), today announced that John Dionne and Kathleen Ferraro are now part of the company’s Data Solutions leadership team. Dionne joins as VP of Worldwide Data Solutions Sales, and Ferraro joins as VP of Product Management and Product Marketing for Data Solutions.

"We’re extremely pleased to welcome John and Kathleen in support of our Data Solutions portfolio,” said John McAdam, President and CEO of F5. "Together with the F5 team, they will provide the focused, expert leadership to build on the exciting market opportunity in file virtualization. Their combined expertise and stellar track records of leading other organizations to success will prove invaluable in driving incremental business for F5’s ARX product line.”

In his new role, Dionne will be responsible for developing, executing, and overseeing a strategic sales focus on the F5® ARX® file virtualization solution portfolio. In Ferraro’s new role, she will lead the Data Solutions product management and product marketing teams to position ARX as the preeminent offering in the file virtualization space.

These appointments correspond to the company’s view that market conditions are ideal for the value proposition that file virtualization solutions offer. The burgeoning growth of file-based data intensifies the need for organizations to better manage their data. Today’s news follows the recent expansion of F5’s ARX solution portfolio and further underscores the company’s commitment to deliver market-leading file virtualization solutions.

Dionne comes to F5 from Polycom, Inc. where as VP, Worldwide Channels and Strategic Alliances he developed, implemented, and managed a global partner strategy that drove sales revenue growth by more than $1 billion. He has also held executive leadership positions at CA (formerly Computer Associates), Inc. and during his 11-year tenure at EMC. In each role, Dionne exhibited the ability to generate significant revenue growth and effectively lead sales and partnership teams.

Ferraro joins F5 following 25 years in the technology industry at companies such as EMC, Clam Associates, and Proteon. After beginning her career in software engineering, Ferraro enjoyed a seven-year tenure at EMC where she oversaw the development of global market strategies, go-to-market plans, and sales partnerships for the Mid-Tier Storage Management Group. She also cofounded a consulting business specializing in IT and business services for clients such as Staples, Ember, Olympic Data Management, and many more.

About F5 Networks

F5 Networks is the global leader in Application Delivery Networking (ADN), focused on ensuring the secure, reliable, and fast delivery of applications. F5’s flexible architectural framework enables community-driven innovation that helps organizations enhance IT agility and dynamically deliver services that generate true business value. F5’s vision of unified application and data delivery offers customers an unprecedented level of choice in how they deploy ADN solutions. It redefines the management of application, server, storage, and network resources, streamlining application delivery and reducing costs. Global enterprise organizations, service and cloud providers, and Web 2.0 content providers trust F5 to keep their business moving forward. For more information, go to www.f5.com.

F5 and ARX are trademarks or service marks of F5 Networks, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements relating to future events or future financial performance that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue," or the negative of such terms or comparable terms. These statements are only predictions and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these statements based upon a number of factors including those identified in the company's filings with the SEC.