Michael Toutonghi, Parallels CTO, will focus on strengthening its Parallels Automation platform
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Web hosting software provider Parallels announced on Thursday that it has appointed a new CTO, Michael Toutonghi, CFO, David Arkley, and VP and GM of Europe and North Africa, Jesper Frederikson.
These appointments come a week after Parallels launched the latest version of web hosting control panel Parallels Plesk Panel 10.4.
“These are three appointments that, all in different ways, are going to help us take a step up as a company, and both in terms of our technology platform, in terms of our readiness to grow and really step up among the premier software companies that help serve both cloud service providers and end-users,” Birger Steen, Parallels CEO said in an interview with the WHIR. “All three of these guys are coming from very good jobs in great companies and we’re very pleased that we’re able to attract this level of talent.”
In addition to driving alignment across its hosting and cloud automation product lines, Parallels says CTO Michael Toutonghi will focus on bolstering Parallels Automation as the “platform of choice for hosting and cloud service providers.”
“If you look a little bit closer at Mike’s background, he was a leader of the development team on the Windows 95 kernel. He really has system-level experience that’s going to help us across all of our technology platforms both desktop and service provider,” Steen says. “He’s been instrumental in driving and intiating the development of the Common Language Runtime and later the whole .NET platform.”
Steen believes that with Toutonghi’s leadership, Parallels will be able to simplify the delivery of cloud services to SMBs with its Parallels Automation platform. He says Toutonghi will not only be instrumental in developing the platform, but also be “a powerful external spokesperson” for Parallels.
Toutonghi is part of the group of 22 Technical Fellow at Microsoft Corporation who are recognized as being instrumental in driving technical strategies for Microsoft and the technology industry, according to the press release.
CFO David Arkley has more than 20 years of experience in financial services and strategy, most recently in a senior financial role with energy and water resource management solutions for Itron, Inc. According to the press release, Arkley served various roles with Itron including CFO of Itron North America.
“We do think we have opportunities to grow significantly faster by beefing up both our balance sheet and our ability to finance the company in different ways,” Steen says. “I think someone who has actually been a CFO of a public company as well as heading M&A in a public company is going to be a tremendous strength.”
Jesper Frederiksen joined Parallels in November as VP and GM of EUNA. Prior to Parallels, Frederikson was vice president of EMEA for the Symantec.cloud business. Steen says he already knows most of Parallels service provider and hosting provider customers in Europe.
“In the case of Jesper, we have been looking for some time for a person who can step up our efforts in Europe and North Africa, which is actually a fast-growth area,” Steen says.
About Nicole Henderson
Nicole Henderson writes full-time for the Web Host Industry Review where she covers daily news and features online, as well as in print. She has a bachelor of journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto, and has been writing for the WHIR since September 2010. You can find her on Twitter @NicoleHenderson.
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