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Polycom Appoints Key Leaders in Sales and Marketing To Expand Growth Strategy In Unified Communications
Posted on Thursday, May 19, 2011

Promotes Key Sales Leaders Leveraging Asia Pacific Success; Adds Depth and Breadth in Marketing

PLEASANTON, Calif. - May 19, 2011 : Polycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), a global leader in unified communications (UC), today announced several enhancements to its executive staff, further strengthening the company's sales and marketing leadership and execution. The company expects these changes to drive its expansion and growth strategies in key markets and its plans to deliver on Polycom's UC EverywhereSM vision.
 
Sales Leadership Expands Based on APAC Success
Polycom promoted Hansjoerg Wagner to senior vice president of Global Field Operations. Wagner, an expert in sales strategy and execution, has delivered consistent record performance leading Asia Pacific, Polycom's fastest growing theater. Under Wagner's leadership, APAC has grown to 24% of Polycom revenues and produces the highest profit margins of any region in which the company operates. This promotion expands Wagner's role to include global service sales, global sales processes, and Polycom's global cloud initiative. He will also remain the president of the Asia Pacific theatre. Wagner's expanded leadership team will include:
  • Gary Testa joins Polycom as vice president of the Global Cloud and Service Provider Solutions Group.  A 25-year sales and marketing veteran with a track record of success at such companies as IBM Tivoli Software and Ditech Networks, Inc., Testa will be responsible for driving global sales and business development for the full range of Polycom's service provider partners and managed service customers, and will lead Polycom's initiatives for cloud-based and mobility-based UC solution adoption.
  • Steven Li remains as vice president of China. Li has driven China revenues to a record 11% of consolidated revenues in Q1 2011 and, over the past several years, has catapulted Polycom's position in China to overall market leader.
  • Michael Chetner is promoted to vice president of Asia Pacific, not including China. Chetner, previously country manager for Australia and New Zealand, generated consistent revenue growth and record revenues and increased market share for that region.
  • Paul Newell is promoted to vice president of Asia Pacific Field Operations. Building on Newell's success with APAC's Unified Communications strategy, he will now be responsible for driving the region's strategic initiatives, partner relations to include UC alliances, services providers and systems integrators, and business operations.
Marketing Leadership and Brand Transformation
In June, Kate Hutchison will join Polycom as the company's new chief marketing officer and executive vice president. Hutchison brings nearly 20 years of executive marketing leadership and brand transformation experience at several of the world's most successful enterprise software companies, including VMware, Citrix Systems and BEA. Reporting to Polycom President and CEO Andy Miller, Hutchison will lead product marketing, corporate marketing, industry marketing and global field marketing. Hutchison's background in software, virtualization, and emerging technologies are expected to accelerate the evolution of Polycom's brand as it transforms into the software powerhouse that's enabling the UC Everywhere vision.
 
Polycom is making these announcements on the heels of another record quarter, in which the company generated significant revenue growth across all geographies. These executive appointments also build on Polycom's hiring of several world-class executives in 2010 and earlier in 2011 – all designed to position the company for optimal growth and performance in the dynamic UC market.
 
"Promoting and recruiting these proven leaders bolsters our depth and breadth of talent as we drive Polycom to the $2 billion revenue mark and beyond," said Miller. "We believe Polycom is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the rapid adoption of visual communications, to deliver cloud and mobility-based UC solutions, and to drive the network effect of video collaboration."
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