David Murphy (Riverbed)
Riverbed has appointed David Murphy as interim CEO, replacing Paul Mountford who is vacating the hot seat after only 18 months in the role.
As former president and COO of Blue Coat Systems, Murphy is currently chairman of the board at Riverbed, in addition to a senior operating partner at parent company, Thoma Bravo.
According to the networking vendor, “a search is underway” to find a permanent CEO with Mountford leaving “to take another executive position in the industry”.
Mountford - who has yet to publicly reveal his next role - was appointed CEO of Riverbed in April 2018, succeeding Jerry Kennelly who retired after serving as leader since co-founding the vendor in 2002.
Having joined Riverbed four years prior as senior vice president and chief sales officer, Mountford was previously CEO of Sentillian, a New York-based web intelligence start-up focused on monitoring publicly shared content.
Mountford also spent 16 years at Cisco in senior leadership roles, including running the technology giant’s $34 billion enterprise line of business, in addition to global channel roles.
“Paul has played an important role in creating the right structure to drive greater focus and expertise for the business,” said Orlando Bravo, founder and managing partner of Thoma Bravo. “I’ve known David for many years, and I’m confident in his ability to lead the business forward.
“We are committed to Riverbed’s success and look forward to continuing to deliver great value to Riverbed’s customers and partners, and maximising the company’s full potential in a $20 billion total addressable market.”
With more than 30 years of leadership experience, during his time at Blue Coat, Murphy helped nearly double the revenue and profitability of the security vendor over a three-year period.
Prior to Blue Coat, Murphy held management roles at Mercury Interactive and Tivoli Systems, alongside two interim CEO roles at Qlik and Apttus.
“Having spent my entire career at some of the premier companies within the technology industry and closely working with Riverbed for the last year as a strategic advisor and chairman, I’ve recognised and appreciated the trusted position that Riverbed has with its customers and partners, as well as the significant market opportunity that exists,” Murphy added.
“I look forward to working even more closely with the executive team as we continue to deliver against our strategy and drive growth in two very unique and strong markets: digital networking and digital experience management.”
