North Bay Business Journal

Mark Floyd

PETALUMA — Telecommunications systems and software developer Cyan today said Chairman Mark Floyd is taking on the additional role of chief executive officer as the company expands further outside the U.S.

Cyan’s business has more than doubled in each of the last two years and made “strong inroads” in several international markets, according to the company.

Mr. Floyd joined the Cyan board in 2007 and was appointed chairman in January of this year. Founder Mike Hatfield remains president, overseeing overall solution strategy and driving development, engineering, product management and marketing.

“There is little question that network operators around the world not only see unprecedented pressure to scale network capacity but also to do so with fundamentally more cost-effective approaches,” Mr. Floyd said. “With a solution that directly addresses these challenges, Cyan has seen significant growth in the U.S. and has begun to expand in Europe and Latin America. We now see an even greater opportunity to increase our investment in international markets and accelerate our growth.”

Mr. Hatfield said Mr. Floyd’s industry experience has been valuable as a Cyan board member and now in a full-time role.

“His track record scaling companies in global markets, his success in working with global tier-one network operators and his experience leading a large software solutions provider will serve Cyan well,” Mr. Hatfield said.

Mr. Floyd is a veteran in helping telecommunications companies transition from startup to global player, according to Cyan. Trade publication Light Reading wrote that Mr. Floyd is best-known for founding and being chief executive of Efficient Networks, which went public in 1999 and was sold to Siemens for $1.5 billion in 2001.

He then became chief executive of Entrisphere, now part of Ericsson. Most recently, he was chief executive of SafeNet, board chairman at NetSocket and a director at Riverbed. He held executive positions at NetWorth, Interphase, Scott Instruments and Texas Instruments.

Mr. Floyd worked in entrepreneurial funding as a partner at El Dorado Ventures and an executive at Crosspoint Ventures.

Promod Haque, managing partner of Cyan backer Norwest Venture Partners, said the bolstered management team will continue the company’s growth.

“We believe that the combined skill sets of Michael (Hatfield), with whom we have been involved in three successful ventures, and Mark, who brings many years of successful experience with relevant software companies, will provide additional leverage to continue Cyan’s strong growth,” he said.