Open Systems snaps up new CEO from VMware Carbon Black

Open Systems has appointed Geoff Haydon as the company's new chief executive officer.

With more than 20 years experience growing cybersecurity companies, Haydon is tasked with building out Open Systems' cybersecurity platform and increasing the company's share of the managed security market, which IDC expects to be the fastest growing segment of global security spending by 2024.

Haydon comes to Open Systems from VMware Carbon Black, where as vice president of sales and customer operations he led global go-to-market strategy and execution.

Prior to that, Haydon served as chief revenue officer at Secureworks, CEO at Absolute Software, and as a vice president at RSA.

Open Systems chairman of the board Dr. Bernd-Michael Rumpf says, "Merely good cybersecurity is not sufficient for today's enterprises, as they shift to multi-cloud environments and enable anywhere workforces.

"We are at an inflection point in the industry with these fundamental attack surface changes, and Open Systems, with its technology-centric approach to service delivery, is uniquely positioned to exceed customer expectations.

"We are confident that Geoff's experience will allow us to distinguish Open Systems as a definitive market leader.

On the company's current standing, Rumpf continues, "The company is well poised for further success due to the strategic initiatives driven by our former CEO.

"These include expanding our platform to offer a very successful MDR service, broadening our cloud security and management offering, and creating deep partnerships with cybersecurity powerhouses like Microsoft.

"On behalf of the board and the executive team, I thank Jeff for his efforts and for ensuring a smooth transition.

Haydon says, "I'm thrilled to join Open Systems at this pivotal moment in its expansion. I'm impressed with its deep commitment to the customer experience, and its approach to abstracting the complexity of cybersecurity technology into a single service delivery platform.

"Unlike typical managed service providers, Open Systems delivers outcomes, not alerts and this is reflected in its 98% customer retention rate. I am eager to work with the team to build on the success the company has worked so hard to attain.

Enterprise Strategy Group managing partner and senior analyst Tony Prigmore says, "Geoff's cybersecurity experience and business acumen make him an ideal CEO for Open Systems as it strives to expand its share of the growing enterprise market for managed security.

"Time and again Geoff has demonstrated his ability to lead companies to success. We fully expect Geoff will position Open Systems MDR+ and SASE+ services to stand out in this growing and strategic market.

Open Systems has provided secure networking services for more than 30 years and has been deployed approximately 10,000 times by enterprises and non-profit organisations in 184 countries.

This platform is central to the company's MDR+ and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE+) services, and is complemented by the company's integrated SOC and NOC with 247 white glove support from trained security and networking experts.