SonicWall Attracts Top Industry Executives as Company Continues to Transform, Accelerate in the Market

PRESS RELEASE – April 03, 2018

Industry veterans Lawrence Pingree, HoJin Kim, Joe NguyenLe, Chris Auger and John Mullen to take key leadership positions in product management, North America channel sales, UI/UX design efforts and strategic sales

MILPITAS, Calif. — SonicWall, the trusted security partner protecting more than 1 million networks worldwide, today announced the addition of five key executives to its leadership team:

• Lawrence Pingree, Vice President of Product Management
• HoJin Kim, Vice President of North America Channel Sales
• Joe NguyenLe, Chief Design Officer
• Chris Auger, Vice President of Dell and Worldwide Strategic Sales
• John Mullen, General Manager of State, Local and Education (SLED), Business Development

“Our ability to attract such key industry leaders as additions to our existing leadership team speaks volumes about the momentum we’ve established and the exciting future that lies ahead for SonicWall, our partners and our customers,” said SonicWall President and CEO Bill Conner. “Each is well qualified with impeccable reputations within their disciplines and will hit the ground running as we continue to build on our transformation and existing momentum.”

With more than 23 years in the cybersecurity industry, Lawrence Pingree, a security expert with a keen focus on technology trends and competitive market strategies, will drive critical efforts that focus on product growth, development and innovation. Pingree comes from Gartner, Inc., where he was a pivotal resource in researching, comparing and evaluating products, services and related technology in the cybersecurity industry, and will lead SonicWall’s product roadmap and spearhead go-to-market strategies.

“I’ve witnessed SonicWall make such a tremendous and positive transformation over the last year, solidifying my decision to join its ranks,” said Pingree. “I look forward to being a part of such a strong leadership team.”

Complementing the addition of Pingree, HoJin Kim is a recognized channel industry veteran who brings SonicWall a breadth of channel experience and deep partner relationships. He joins SonicWall from a Fortune 50 technology company where he was the head of global distribution for a multi-billion-dollar business. Prior to that, Kim spent nearly 10 years running cybersecurity channel sales teams.

“Having dedicated my career to channels and partnerships, I’m thrilled to join a company that continually asserts its 100 percent go-to-market channel strategy, and walks that talk in how they respect their partners,” said Kim.

Joe NguyenLe joins the team as Chief Design Officer as SonicWall drives its next-generation UI/UX and overall design efforts. Joe will be instrumental in making major improvements to the look, feel and user experience of products while also lead the design of the company’s website and marketing materials.

"SonicWall has a culture that fosters innovation with top-notch engineers and a management team that has sharp vision and a strong commitment to building world-class products with strong security efficacy,” said NguyenLe. “For a person who has spent his entire life dedicated to UX/UI design, this is a great opportunity to work with an amazing team and implement a best-in-class user design and experience across SonicWall products and the corporation."

In addition to focusing on SonicWall’s Dell business and top strategic customers, newly appointed VP of Dell and Worldwide Strategic Sales Chris Auger will work to capitalize on the company’s current traction and key growth potential, focusing on verticals such as education, federal, state and local governments and retail.

“Cybersecurity is the top priority for organizations of every size and in every industry,” Auger said. “It is critical that we provide additional focus on our most strategic customers and partners, better understanding their needs and requirements.”

Joining Auger’s team will be industry veteran John Mullen, General Manager of SLED Business Development. Mullen brings 18 years of public sector experience providing transformative technology solutions to the higher education, K-12, and state and local government markets.

“Unfortunately, state and local governments, along with education institutions, are some of the most vulnerable targets in today’s threat landscape” said Mullen. “Working to protect these highly sought-after targets in the public sector is an important mission I am proud to be leading for SonicWall.”

“SonicWall has come a long way over the last 17 months and I’m proud of what the team has accomplished,” said Conner. “We’re in a cyber arms race, so it is critical that we maintain our relentless drive to provide the best products, services and resources for our partners and customers.”

For More Information

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About SonicWall

SonicWall has been fighting the cyber-criminal industry for over 26 years defending small, medium-size businesses and enterprises worldwide. Backed by research from SonicWall Capture Labs and the formidable resources of over 23,000 loyal channel partners around the globe, our award-winning, real-time breach detection and prevention solutions secure more than a million business and mobile networks and their emails, applications and data. This combination of products and partners has enabled an automated real-time breach detection and prevention solution tuned to the specific needs of the more than 500,000 organizations in over 150 countries. These businesses can run more effectively and fear less about security. For more information, visit www.sonicwall.com.