SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - May 16, 2012) - [ Brocade ] (NASDAQ: [ BRCD ]) today announced several changes to its sales leadership team to improve focus and organizational alignment in order to drive growth within key business areas. The new leaders are responsible for bolstering channel partner enablement, driving continued Ethernet fabric adoption and developing strongholds in high-growth regions. The leaders were promoted from within the company, enabling more immediate collaboration and integration among the teams.

Widely regarded as a leading supplier of innovative networking solutions for mission-critical applications, Brocade is focused on driving deeper sales engagement with its customers and partners. The alignment of senior sales leadership with market growth opportunities reflects the company's commitment to investing in foundational aspects of the business that improve operational efficiency and enterprise agility.

The changes include the appointment of senior-level executives aligned to these initiatives, specifically:

• Regan McGrath, formerly vice president of Sales for the Americas region, has been named vice president of Global Channel Sales and Marketing. With over 25 years of IT industry experience within the end user, OEM and channel sales markets, McGrath will oversee global channel sales and marketing to drive increased volume and efficiencies through differentiated programs, especially for Brocade's [ campus LAN business ]. McGrath takes the helm from Barbara Spicek, who will return to her native Germany to take on an executive leadership role overseeing the company's Europe, Middle-East and Africa (EMEA) OEM business unit. Tom Ellery, formerly vice president of Sales for Enterprise LAN, will step into the role previously held by McGrath.
• Phil O'Reilly, formerly vice president of Integrated Marketing, has assumed the post of vice president of Sales, Ethernet fabrics, where he will lead the global effort to increase Ethernet fabric adoption and further advance Brocade's leadership position among enterprise data center and service provider customers. O'Reilly joined Brocade in 2010 from Juniper Networks, where he was senior vice president of Enterprise Sales for the Americas region, and has previously held executive management positions in several Fortune 1000 Internet technology companies.
• Charlie Foo, formerly senior director of the Brocade Partner Business Group for Asia Pacific (APAC), has been named vice president of the APAC region. Based in Singapore, Foo will be responsible for charting the company's overall growth strategy across APAC, the third-largest IT market in the world, according to Forrester Research.¹ With over 20 years of sales management and leadership experience, Foo possesses extensive knowledge in driving regional business initiatives and setting partner strategy with distributors, resellers, OEMs and global system integrators across the region.

"As we continue to advance towards a channel-led sales model to grow Ethernet market share globally, we need strong sales leadership with experience in all aspects of the sales cycle and go-to-market strategies to fully capitalize on growth opportunities within service provider, campus LAN, enterprise data center and storage networking environments," said Ian Whiting, senior vice president of Worldwide Sales at Brocade. "Regan, Phil, Charlie and Tom represent the 'best of the best' within our sales organization. I am fully confident in this leadership team's ability to position Brocade well for success in the near term and beyond."

About Brocade
Brocade (NASDAQ: [ BRCD ]) networking solutions help the world's leading organizations transition smoothly to a world where applications and information reside anywhere. ([ www.brocade.com ])

Brocade, Brocade Assurance, the B-wing symbol, DCX, Fabric OS, MLX, SAN Health, VCS, and VDX are registered trademarks, and AnyIO, Brocade One, CloudPlex, Effortless Networking, ICX, NET Health, OpenScript, and The Effortless Network are trademarks of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., in the United States and/or in other countries. Other brands, products, or service names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners.

© 2012 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

¹ *Source: "Asia Pacific Tech Market Outlook for 2012," Forrester Research