Ari Bose CIO, Brocade

Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. announced the appointment of Ari Bose to the position of CIO.

Responsible for the strategic transformation of the global IT organization, Bose will report to Gale England, VP of customer advocacy and operational effectiveness.

The data center networking industry is in the midst of a transformation. With increasing pressure being placed on corporate networks to manage rising data volumes and extract the most value out of existing assets in order to increase business efficiency, IT organizations are now a strategic business partner and no longer a back-office function.

In his new position, Bose will leverage Brocade’sportfolio of data center networking solutions and partner solutions to create an IT function that can drive the company forward and become a showcase for the industry. Specifically, he is tasked with standardizing the company’s internal IT systems to support cross-functional collaboration and manage information security and risk. One initiative is to continue expanding the company’s network-centric virtualization strategy in which Brocade currently operates at more than 70% virtual workloads.

“Brocade is at the forefront of data center networking innovation, ushering in a new era of networking through revolutionary technologies such as Ethernet fabrics, network functions virtualization, and software-defined networking,” said England. “We also lead by example, leveraging state-of-the-art solutions within our own environment to drive the business forward. For example, Brocade has put its IT innovation into action by deploying a world-class, ultra-modern and energy-efficient data center. This facility serves as a showcase for the possibilities of dynamic, virtualized data centers-as well as strategic ‘green’ initiatives. Ari’s appointment is pivotal in advancing our stance in this respect.”

With more than 30 years of experience in the high-tech industry, Bose has held a number of CIO positions at networking and other high-tech companies. Most recently at Polycom, he served as SVP and CIO, where he led the transformation of the global IT organization. He was also responsible for overseeing the company’s internal global visual communications network. Prior to that, he was SVP and CIO at UTStarcom, and he has held senior IT positions at companies such as 3Com, Bay Networks and Apple.

“It is fair to say that the networking market is changing at an exponential pace, driven largely by user demands and fiscal pressures,” said Bose. “Brocade has almost 20 years of experience in driving data center innovation, and I am thrilled at the prospect of continuing this heritage. I am excited about how the data center of the future can drive business transformation. I hope that by seeing how we are embracing fabrics and a highly virtualized architecture, other businesses will understand how Brocade can empower change within their own environments.”