Press Release
Isilon Taps Former NetApp Senior Vice President to Lead Company’s Worldwide Sales Efforts
George Bennett to Lead Global Field Operations as Isilon Drives Enterprise Shift to Scale-out File Storage
SEATTLE, Wash. - April 6, 2009 - Isilon® Systems (NASDAQ: ISLN), the proven leader in scale-out NAS, today announced that George Bennett has joined Isilon as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations to lead the company’s sales efforts amidst continued enterprise adoption of Isilon’s scale-out NAS solutions. Mr. Bennett will report directly to Isilon’s CEO, Sujal Patel, and will be responsible for Isilon’s global sales and customer service organizations. Prior to joining Isilon, Mr. Bennett most recently served as a Senior Vice President at Quantum Corp. and previously served as a Senior Vice President at NetApp, where he was responsible for growing the Americas’ sales revenue from $600 Million in 2003 to more than $2 Billion in 2008.
"With file-based data expected to account for 80 percent of storage capacity shipped by 2012, there is significant market opportunity for our innovative scale-out NAS solutions," said Sujal Patel, CEO, Isilon Systems. "George’s senior executive experience and proven ability to drive both the strategic and tactical elements of field sales, channel partnerships and strategic alliances for multi-billion dollar businesses will enable Isilon to maximize the tremendous opportunity we have before us."
"I am truly excited to be joining the Isilon team," said George Bennett. "Having been fortunate enough to help lead NetApp through a period of rapid growth and enterprise adoption, I see the same type of potential with Isilon’s scale-out NAS solutions. The technology clearly represents the next generation of enterprise data storage, delivering economic and business value that resonates across a wide range of vertical markets. I look forward to helping Isilon fully deliver on the promise that its technology holds."
Mr. Bennett replaces Steve Fitz, who served as Isilon’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales from April 2007 to April 2009.
About Isilon Systems
Isilon Systems (NASDAQ: ISLN) is the proven leader in scale-out NAS. Isilon’s clustered storage and data management solutions drive unique business value for customers by maximizing the performance of their mission-critical applications, workflows, and processes. Isilon enables enterprises and research organizations worldwide to manage large and rapidly growing amounts of file-based data in a highly scalable, easy-to-manage, and cost-effective way. Information about Isilon can be found at http://www.isilon.com.
Safe Harbor for Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, the continued growth, enterprise adoption and market opportunity for our scale-out NAS solutions and the ability of Mr. Bennett to enable the company to maximize such opportunities. These statements are not guarantees of future performance, but are based on management’s expectations as of the date of this press release and assumptions that are inherently subject to uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. If the risks or uncertainties ever materialize, or the assumptions prove incorrect, our actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. There can be no assurances that forward-looking statements will be achieved. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in forward-looking statements include the following: risks associated with anticipated growth in the storage of file-based data and scale-out NAS category; demand for the Company’s products and services; competitive factors, including changes in the competitive environment, pricing pressures, sales cycle time and increased competition; our ability to improve operational efficiency while building and expanding our direct sales, reseller and distribution channels; new product introductions and our ability to develop and deliver innovative products and provide high-quality service and support offerings; disruption from the workforce reduction and its potential impact on research and development efforts and the Company’s relationships with customers and vendors; as well as U.S. and global macroeconomic and industry conditions, including expenditure trends for storage-related products. These and other important risk factors and assumptions are detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 filed February 20, 2009, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and could cause actual results to vary from expectations. The Company makes no commitment to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
