Cyber security firm Symantec has named Michael Fey as the president and chief operating officer of the company. The appointment comes in the heels of Symantec’s announcement last month that it intended to acquire Blue Coat for $4.65 billion. Fey currently serves as president and COO of Blue Coat. After the deal closes, Fey will report to Greg Clark, who is now Blue Coat’s CEO and is slated to take the helm of Symantec, CRNreported.
Fey’s appointment will become official upon the closing of the acquisition, which is expected to take place in the third calendar quarter of 2016.
Fey is widely known and respected in security circles, having helped transform Blue Coat’s strategy to an open-platform approach with technology alliances partnerships since 2014. Prior to that, he served as executive vice president and CTO at McAfee (now Intel Security).
Also Read: Symantec Acquires Bluecoat For $4.65bn
“Mike has a proven track record of driving and maintaining profitable growth while achieving operational excellence at scale. This, along with substantial go-to-market expertise, will be instrumental as we complete the Symantec-Blue Coat transaction. Mike has been deeply involved in the integration planning and will continue to work closely with planning teams from both companies to ensure a thoughtful and seamless transition,” incoming CEO Clark said in a statement.
Fey said he will focus on delivering what he called “exceptional performance” around the go-to-market strategy of the combined companies. “It’s a vote of confidence from a lot of different angles, but more importantly…that this is not a momentary transition. We are making a long-term commitment here and we are genuinely excited about the opportunity in front of us,” Fey told CRN.
In addition to Clark and Fey, Symantec has announced that CFO Thomas Seifert will continue in his role after the closing of the deal.