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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY /
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Systems/Enterprise:
PLATFORM LAUNCHES GLOBAL PARTNER
PROGRAM, ADDS NEWS FACES
As part of its continued commitment to plan and build Grid computing
infrastructures for customers, Platform Computing Inc, the largest independent
provider of Grid software, announced the appointment of James MacDonald as
vice president of business development to lead the company's rapidly growing
partner programs.
MacDonald will spearhead Platform's strategic business development
activities,
including building and strengthening relationships with key global systems
vendors and independent software vendors (ISVs). He also will be responsible
for developing partnerships with select technology providers to enhance
Platform's industry specific offerings for vertical markets, including
financial services, electronics, government, industrial manufacturing and life
sciences.
"Platform Computing has the right combination of proven experience and
cutting-edge technologies to bring the benefits of Grid computing to companies
across all industries," said MacDonald. "As a result, our global partner
program and alliance strategy will be crucial in developing Grid solutions
that meet the diverse business needs of our customers in each sector. These
partnerships with leading system vendors will be a key part of harnessing Grid
computing as an effective tool for analytics and other business computing
functions."
With over 15 years of experience in the technology industry, MacDonald
joins
Platform Computing from Solect Technology Group, later acquired by Amdocs Inc,
as vice president of Global Sales and Marketing. Prior to Solect Technology
Group, MacDonald spent 12 years at Digital Equipment and held several senior
management positions including vice president of Systems Integration and vice
president of Marketing.
"James' strong background complements the existing leadership at Platform
which hails from some of the world's leading technology companies," said
Songnian Zhou, CEO of Platform Computing. "Our company will benefit
significantly from his experience and leadership in developing strategies and
partnerships that show customers the value of Grid computing."
Platform's Business Development Group is focused on driving strategy for
new
alliances. Platform partners with companies that extend and complement the
functionality of its products in order to provide superior joint solutions to
current and prospective clients. Existing global partners include leadership
system vendors, system integrators, independent software vendors and value
added resellers.
Platform also announced the appointment of Ron Ratzlaff as vice president
of
services. In this position, Ratzlaff will direct Platform's consulting team in
the development of programs aimed at supporting customer implementations and
system integrations both for Platform customers, and for customers shared with
vendors such as HP, IBM and Dell, in key verticals such as financial services,
electronics, government, industrial manufacturing and life sciences.
"I am looking forward to leading a global team of services professionals
focused on helping our customers, directly and indirectly, through partner
relationships to maximize the value of Platform Computing Grid computing
technology," said Ratzlaff. "We will assist our customers to fully harness the
power of their computing resources and applications so they can ultimately
increase productivity and profitability."
Zhou added, "Our company's philosophy is that we help our customers build
and
plan Grids, not simply buy them. Subsequently, Ron's expertise and leadership
of our professional services group will play a key role in enabling
organizations to use Grid to its full potential. Ron's experience working with
large technology companies such as Sun and Compaq, combined with his
international experience, makes him a perfect fit for work with our partners
and for support of our global initiatives."
Ratzlaff brings more than 30 years of industry experience to Platform. Most
recently, he served as country manager of professional services at Sun
Microsystems Inc, where he was responsible for managing and growing Sun's
professional services business. In addition, Ratzlaff has held various senior
management positions at Compaq, including vice president of professional
services, director of Boston operations, marketing manager of software
products and services, and application products business manager. He began his
career in high-tech as a University Lecturer in Computer Science at Ahmadu
Bello University in Nigeria. Ratzlaff is a graduate of the University of
Waterloo where he earned a B.A. in mathematics with a major in computer
science.
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