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ELEMENTAL NAMES NEW CEO, BROADENS INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE OF SECURITY COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT PROVIDER
Former COO of Network Associates Peter Watkins Named to Lead Corporate Expansion of Company Delivering New Policy-Based Enterprise Information Security Product
SAN MATEO Calif. - Nov. 15, 2004 - Elemental Security, Inc.T, a company pioneering new technology in enterprise information security with its next generation of security compliance management products, today announced it has named former Network Associates COO Peter R. Watkins as its new CEO. Watkins will replace co-founder and founding CEO Dayne Myers, who will remain on the company's Board of Directors.
Elemental is developing the world's only product that unifies policy management, host configuration and network access control in one seamlessly integrated offering. For the first time, enterprises will be able to easily express cross-platform security policies that affect individual computers and their behavior on the network, gather meaningful up-to-date information to compare to established metrics, and selectively enforce policies across a diverse, dynamic environment. Security compliance has become a top priority for enterprises due to pressures from increasing frequency and severity of security breaches, and from regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA.)
Peter Watkins has more than 20 years of experience in the development and delivery of new hardware and software products and technologies. Prior to his most recent role as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Bessemer Venture Partners, Mr. Watkins was the CEO and President of Resonate, Inc., a publicly held enterprise software company. Prior to Resonate, Mr. Watkins served as COO for Network Associates, where he was responsible for managing product development, sales, services, support, and marketing for multiple business units worldwide. Before Network Associates, Mr. Watkins established the European business unit for SunSoft, a division of Sun Microsystems. Prior to that, he served in management roles at Apple Computer and MicroPro. He earned a BA in Economics from Wesleyan University, and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.
"As we transition from development to commercialization, the addition of this proven security industry executive to our leadership team will accelerate the growth of Elemental in the enterprise information security space, which is why I recruited Peter. I believe there is no one better qualified to grow our company from here," said Myers. "Peter brings a wealth of success in the enterprise security software market, and we will rely on his knowledge and experience as we gear up for the general release of Elemental's security compliance management product and our corporate launch. I take great pride in handing the reins over to a person of Peter's caliber while the company is executing well, and am excited about its future potential under his leadership."
Elemental's products address enterprise problems such as ensuring that policies are being adhered to by all machines in dynamic computing environments; providing for a unified, up-to-date view of all systems in the network and how they are performing against internal security standards and external regulatory requirements; and enforcing access controls and quarantines on systems not meeting guidelines set up by security and IT administrators.
"I am excited to join and lead such a strongly positioned company and team, as we transition into a business growth phase to execute on Dan Farmer's vision for a security compliance management product," said Watkins. "I joined Bessemer as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, and waited 18 months for an opportunity like this to come along. I have not seen another young company that has combined such a promising product with a team that is as strong across the board and with venture investors that are as reputed. I also want to thank Dayne Myers for his leadership of the company from its inception, and his success in bringing it to this exciting and well-positioned stage."
Elemental helps organizations realize cost and time savings by reducing their number of security incidents. The solution reduces exposure to risks by providing visibility and understanding of enterprises' computing environments through continuous monitoring. Its product also identifies and contains unauthorized machines on the network, and enforces required policies to ensure compliance. The solution also reduces the cost of network and policy administration; and reduces the cost, frequency and effort involved in internal and external audit exercises.
About Elemental
Elemental Security is a pioneer in the Security Compliance Management market. Elemental's products address enterprises' need to centrally manage the security compliance of all computers in their environments. Elemental provides unified visibility and control to manage dynamic computing environments, enabling enterprises to satisfy compliance requirements and measurably improve their security. Founded in December 2002, Elemental is a privately held company backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Mayfield, Sequoia Capital and Lehman Brothers Venture Partners. The company is headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., and has offices throughout the U.S. Go to http://www.elementalsecurity.com for more information.
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Elemental and the Elemental Compliance System are trademarks of Elemental Security, Inc.