Meru Networks Grows Executive Team

Meru Networks Inc. has announced it is expanding its executive management team with the appointment of Ram Appalaraju to the role of senior vice president of marketing and Glenn Cross to the role of senior vice president of worldwide sales. The two industry veterans bring a combined 45-plus years of sales and marketing experience to Meru and will lead the company’s go-to-market and field operations strategy for the rapidly expanding enterprise wireless networking market.

Appalaraju comes to Meru from Isilon Systems where he was vice president of marketing. Appalaraju has also held vice president positions at Azul Systems and Hewlett Packard.

Cross previously has led the sales initiatives for companies like Sun Microsystems, Adobe, Palm and Lotus/ IBM, during high-growth periods for the organizations. Most recently Cross was senior vice president of global sales for Secure Computing, which was acquired by McAfee in 2008. Prior to Secure Computing, Cross held the position of executive vice president for global sales at SurfControl (later acquired by WebSense), senior vice president of worldwide sales for Nuance Communications, acquired by ScanSoft in 2005, and senior vice president of ActivCard Inc.

“Appalaraju and Cross bring a depth of industry expertise and diverse experience in different technology segments and across various company sizes, both private and public, to Meru,” said Ihab Abu-Hakima, CEO, Meru Networks. “With a proven track record in building brand awareness and accelerating revenue growth, we’re excited to welcome them to the management team and look forward to their contributions in elevating Meru as the leader in enterprise wireless networking solutions.”