Former Nortel and Nokia Executives to Drive New Product Insertions and Extend Global Reach and Sales Execution
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Openwave Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:OPWV), the leading independent provider of software products and services for the communications industry, today announced the appointments of John Boden to senior vice president of product management and Michael Wallis-Brown to general manager for the Asia-Pacific region. These additions are part of the company's strategy to deliver sustainable revenue and profit growth by accelerating new product development and deployment globally.
"We are delighted that such seasoned, world-class executives will help us lead the charge in optimizing our product portfolio and deepening strategic customer relationships," said Robert Vrij, president and CEO for Openwave. "John and Michael have deep telecom expertise and experience that will be key drivers as we bring new products to market that capitalize on our incumbency in the mobile and broadband markets." A 20-year telecom industry veteran, John Boden spent more than 15 years at Nortel driving key strategy initiatives in its wireless, wireline and enterprise groups, including the development of long-term strategy plans for IMS and VoIP. Reporting to CEO Robert Vrij, Boden assumes responsibility for the development and management of Openwave's suite of products and solutions. In this role, he will focus on developing a synergistic product portfolio and direct the product lifecycles and roadmaps for Openwave's core product lines.
Michael Wallis-Brown joins Openwave as general manager of the Asia-Pacific region. Wallis-Brown spent the last 10 years in a variety of key positions with Nokia and IBM, including heading up the global Internet services channel organization for Nokia's Multimedia Business Group. Wallis-Brown will be focused on working with the regional sales and services teams to improve sales and services execution and to further strengthen relationships with key Openwave customers in the Asia-Pacific region. Wallis-Brown will report directly to Hari Haran, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations.
About Openwave Openwave Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:OPWV) is the leading independent provider of software solutions that ignite mobility for the communications and media industries. Openwave empowers its customers to rapidly transform their business by sparking new revenue streams and market opportunities, building loyal subscriber communities and reducing operational costs. Openwave's broad range of IP-based handset-to-network solutions enable the rapid launch of information, communication and entertainment services across networks and devices and include handset software, content delivery, adaptive messaging, location, music and video services. Openwave is a global company headquartered in Redwood City, California. For more information please visit http://www.openwave.com/.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements This release contains forward-looking statements relating to expectations, plans or prospects for Openwave Systems Inc. that are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of Openwave's management and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Notwithstanding changes that may occur with respect to matters relating to any forward looking statements, Openwave does not expect to, and disclaims any obligation to, update such statements. Openwave, however, reserves the right to update such statements or any portion thereof at any time for any reason.
In particular, the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: (a) the ability to make changes in business strategy, development plans and product offerings to respond to the needs of our current, new and potential customers, suppliers and strategic partners; (b) the ability to improve sales productivity; (c) the ability to continue to sell our existing products and enhancements; (d) the ability to develop and commercialize new products; (e) risks associated with the development and licensing of software generally, including potential delays in software development and technical difficulties that may be encountered in the development or use of our software; and (f) increased global competition and pricing pressure on our products.
For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the risk factors discussed in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including but not limited to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2006, and any subsequently filed reports. All documents also are available through the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval system (EDGAR) at http://www.sec.gov/ or from Openwave's website at http://www.openwave.com/.
Openwave and the Openwave logo are trademarks of Openwave Systems Inc. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners. DATASOURCE: Openwave Systems Inc CONTACT: Vikki Herrera, Public Relations, +1-650-480-6753, , or Mike Bishop, Investor Relations, +1-650-480-4461, , both of Openwave Systems Inc. |