Security Staff Acquisition & Development, Content

Qualys Hires Address Strategic Alliances, SMB Sales, Marketing

Qualys has made multiple hires to further strengthen the security company's strategic alliances with systems integrators, SMB business development, marketing and more, interim CEO Sumedh Thakar disclosed on the company's February 10 earnings call.

Sumedh Thakar, interim CEO, Qualys
Sumedh Thakar, interim CEO, Qualys
Andrew Barnett,

In a follow-up email conversation with MSSP Alert, a Qualys spokesperson confirmed the following executive hires:

  • Chief Marketing Officer: Andy Smith, a Centrify and Oracle veteran.
  • EVP of Field Operations for Americas: David French, who returns to the company after working for Transmit Security and Kenna Security
  • VP of New Business for the U.S.: Pedro Vidal, a veteran of AttackIQ, Cylance and Intel Security (aka McAfee)
  • VP of Strategic Alliances & System Integrators: Andrew Barnett, a veteran of Deloitte, Verodin, Optiv and Accuvant.
  • VP and GM for our SME/SMB business: Klaus Moser, a MobileIron veteran.

Qualys is also seeking to hire a chief revenue officer (CRO), Thakar said during the earnings call.

Qualys CEO Illness, Business Initiatives

Philippe Courtot, CEO, Qualys

Those executive moves arrive at a key time for Qualys. The company earlier this week disclosed that CEO Philippe Courtot has taken a leave of absence due to health issues. Thakar, president and chief product officer, is now interim CEO.

Amid the CEO update, the security company is more deeply engaging MSSPs and global systems integrators while navigating multiple product rollouts, and new opportunities in the XDR (eXtended detection and response) market.

Also this week, Qualys expanded its VMDR (Vulnerability Management, Detection and Response) platform to mobile devices with support for Google Android, Apple iOS and iPadOS.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.