Data Recovery Digest

Yahoo’s chief financial officer, Ken Goldman, has been part of the firm since 2012. Before that he was CFO at cybersecurity enterprise Fortinet, and prior to that the same role at customer relationship management company Siebel Systems. The latter was acquired by Oracle for $5.85 billion while Goldman was there.

Now he is moving on from Yahoo to Zerto, a Boston-located start-up that provides disaster recovery software for virtualised infrastructure and the cloud. Founded in 2009, the company is privately held and has been through several rounds of successful investment. They have more than $130 million in venture capital funding from the likes of CRV, 83North and Harmony Partners.

In a press release to announce Goldman’s move, Zerto noted that the CFO had a history of helping companies grow to become global enterprises built for longevity, and no doubt hope the same will happen to their enterprise.

“Scaling a dynamic company is an exciting challenge, and Ken’s deep expertise in business growth strategy gives Zerto a tremendous asset as we take our company to the next level,” said Zerto CEO Ziv Kadem.

Zerto’s software works with different cloud storage server types, meaning that companies can automatically back up their data in essential real-time. Their main product is Zerto Virtual Replication; version four, released in 2015, was the first to allow the protection, recovery and migration of data between VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisors.

The firm has also won many awards over the years, like claiming VMworld’s Best of Show in 2011, Deloitte Technology’s Fast 50 Rising Star in 2014 and SVC Awards Storage Virtualisation Product of the Year in 2014.

They reported that they doubled their revenue in 2016, though didn’t cite specific figures. Employing over 500 employees, with around 130 in its Boston headquarters, the company also has offices in places like the UK, Japan and Israel. Their aim is to expand to 700 employees by the end of 2017. A lofty goal, but one that no doubt they will succeed in thanks to their strong investors and the joining of high-profile members like Goldman.

For Goldman, the pull to a company like Zerto was to be professionally rewarded for being involved in innovative technology companies that are in the relatively early stages of building their business globally.

“As a board member, I’m excited to join a team of industry veterans who are working to change the economics and the way people not only look at the disaster recovery market, but how IT can truly give companies a competitive business advantage with greater choice and flexibility,” said Goldman.

He believes that cloud computing and IT resiliency are two of the biggest macro IT industry trends today. And he’s probably not wrong, especially on the former. There’s no doubt that the industry is pushing towards cloud storage in every way, through every device, as a cost-effective and consumer-friendly storage solution. With Goldman on board at Zerto, they are no doubt hoping to benefit from his expertise and gain a real market lead in this quickly growing industry.