Riverbed Picks Longtime Cisco CTO to Fill New Position

**Editor’s Note: Click here to see which channel people were on the move in December.**

Riverbed Technology on Wednesday said it has hired Phil Harris, formerly BMC Software’s chief technology officer, as its new senior vice president and chief strategy officer.

In this newly created position, Harris is responsible for helping to shape Riverbed’s architectural approach to next-generation, software-defined networking, providing counsel and direction on long-term technology and business strategy, overseeing corporate development activities and leading the company’s go-to-market approach with strategic technology alliance and OEM partners.

“Phil’s broad customer experience and hands-on technology know-how, combined with his understanding of global market trends and go-to-market dynamics, make him a great addition to our leadership team,” said Jerry Kennelly, Riverbed’s chairman and CEO.

Prior to his tenure at BMC Software, Harris was chief strategy officer and vice president of platform engineering and strategy at VCE. He also spent nearly 20 years at Cisco, as CTO of its cloud and virtualization technology group, CTO of its worldwide partner organization, and a consulting engineer as far back as 1993.{ad}

“Riverbed is right in the middle of many of the most pressing challenges facing IT today, as businesses continue to migrate apps and data to the cloud, build out software-defined networks, drive optimization to the edge, and go through a digital transformation,” Harris said. “Riverbed’s current technology and product road map, along with our ecosystem of leading technology, service provider and channel partners, uniquely positions Riverbed to help our customers through these market shifts and transitions.”