Q&A Whale CEO faces challenges

摘要

SSL VPN vendor Whale Communications recently appointed Roger Pilc as its new CEO. Pilc most recently worked as COO of Smarts, a network management company bought by EMC last year. As he comes on board at Whale, the company has a fresh $6.5 million in venture funding that he can use to carry out his plans. But he faces an uphill battle. Major network vendors all have SSL VPN products to sell, and the standalone SSL market is starting to consolidate. In addition, the company's sales are sliding — Whale slipped from No. 2 to No. 4 between 2003 and 2004 (www.networkworld. com, DocFinder: 7728), Synergy Research says. On his first day on the job at Whale, Pilc spoke to Network World Senior Editor Tim Greene about plans to reverse market-share loss and move the company forward.