NetApp Strengthens Board of Directors with Appointment of Gerald Held and Michael Nevens
Sydney, AUSTRALIA - 17 December
2009- NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) today announced that it
appointed Dr. Gerald Held, CEO of Held Consulting LLC, and Michael
Nevens, senior advisor to Permira, to the company's board of
directors.
"We are pleased to welcome Dr. Gerald Held
and Michael Nevens to the NetApp board of directors," said Tom
Georgens, president and chief executive officer, NetApp. "Dr.
Held's broad technology experience with strong product and customer
insights will be a valuable asset to our board. Michael Neven's
extensive business strategy experience providing strategic counsel
and direction to Fortune 500 technology companies will help NetApp
continue to gain market share in the storage industry."
"The information technology industry is
entering a period of fundamental change driven by virtualization of
computing and storage infrastructure," said Dr. Held. "NetApp is
extremely well positioned to be the leader in storage
virtualization."
"NetApp is an innovative leader in the
storage industry and I look forward to contributing to its
continued success," said Michael Nevens. "NetApp is poised to
benefit from the economic recovery and pent-up demand for storage
technology."
Dr. Gerald Held
Biography
Dr. Gerald Held, CEO of Held Consulting LLC, provides strategic
consulting to CEOs and senior executives of technology firms.
In 1998, Dr. Held was "CEO-in-residence" at
the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Through 1997, he was senior vice president of Oracle Corporation's
server product division, where he was responsible for Oracle's most
important products during a period of rapid growth, from $1.5
billion to $6 billion in annual revenues. Prior to working at
Oracle, he spent 18 years at Tandem Computers, where he was a
member of the executive team that grew Tandem from a startup to $2
billion in annual revenues. During his tenure at Tandem, Dr. Held
was appointed to several senior management positions, including
chief technology officer, senior vice president of strategy, and
vice president of new ventures. He led the initial development of
Tandem's relational database products.
Dr. Held also serves on the board of
Informatica Corporation and Openwave Systems. He is chairman of
Vertica Systems, Bella Pictures, and Software Development
Technologies. He served as lead independent director of Business
Objects until its sale to SAP in 2008.
Dr. Held received a BS in Electrical
Engineering from Purdue, an MS in Systems Engineering from the
University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from
the University of California, Berkeley, where he led the initial
development of the INGRES relational database management
system.
Michael Nevens
Biography
Mike Nevens serves as a senior advisor to Permira, an international
private equity fund with 21 billion euros of funds under
management. He also serves on the board of directors of Altera and
ModelN Software. Nevens is the president of the board of trustees
of the San Jose Museum of Art and a member of the board and
executive committee of ZER01: The Art and Technology Network. He is
also a member of the Advisory Council of the Mendoza College of
Business at the University of Notre Dame, where he has been an
adjunct professor of Corporate Governance and Strategy.
Nevens retired as a director (senior partner)
of McKinsey & Co. in 2002 after leading McKinsey's global
technology practice. He also served on the board of the McKinsey
Global Institute, which conducts research on economic and policy
issues.
Nevens received a B.S. in Physics from the
University of Notre Dame and a Master of Science in Industrial
Administration from the Krannert School at Purdue University, where
he was designated a Krannert Scholar. He resides in Los Altos
Hills, California, with his wife, Yvonne.
About NetApp
NetApp creates innovative storage and data management solutions
that accelerate business breakthroughs and deliver outstanding cost
efficiency. Discover our passion for helping organisations around
the world go further, faster at www.netapp.com/au.
NetApp, the NetApp logo, and Go further,
faster are trademarks or registered trademarks of NetApp, Inc. in
the United States and/or other countries. All other brands or
products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective holders and should be treated as such.
Media Contact:
Rachel York
Max Australia
+61 2 9954 3492
Rachel.York@maxaustralia.com.au