
The past week saw no shortage of big time cloud news. As was expected, the big guns flexed their muscles. IBM, Microsoft,Rackspace and AWS – for better or for worse – were in the spotlight. For example, the Microsoft news showed just how much they are branching out. They currently have plans to build underwater cables for the cloud. Talk about a big splash! However, while all of that news was definitely huge for the cloud industry, we feel like there was one company that outdid the rest of the competition. But, before we get to that, allow us to introduce (again): geek of the week.
Geek of the Week is a column that features a cloud leader who had a notable impact on the industry in the past week. As mentioned above, cloud news is anything but boring on any given week. Try sifting through hundreds of important news pieces and then choosing a winner. It is very difficult! Nevertheless, at the end of the day, a winner needs to be chosen.
Thus, without further ado: this week’s Geek of the Week is Michael Murdoch – CEO and President of AppRiver. AppRiver was in the news this week due to their announcement of a new product lineup that will enhance the security of an Office 365 deployment. Over the past several months, some have voiced concern over what they consider possible spots in the security of an Office 365 deployment. However, with this new product lineup, AppRiver gives end users peace of mind when changing over to cloud based email.
As for Michael Murdoch: according to the AppRiver website, Mr. Murdoch is an innovator and an entrepreneur. He has over 25 years of experience in business and product development. Thus, it is no surprise that AppRiver has seen ridiculous growth in their respective markets (email and web security). Mr. Murdoch previously founded WaveNet, which was a “full service integrator specializing in network infrastructure and security solutions.” Additionally, Mr. Murdoch held esteemed positions at National Business Group (acquired by Forsythe Technology) and MOM Corporation. Mr. Murdoch studied business at the University of Georgia.
Congratulations Michael Murdoch!