AVG Technologies has announced three senior global appointments: Travis Witteveen, VP of Global Sales; David Ferguson, Chief Marketing Officer; and Siobhan MacDermott, Head of Global Investor Relations & Corporate Communications.

Travis Witteveen has joined the company in the newly-created position of Vice President of Global Sales, with responsibility for global sales and market/business development. He has 16 years’ experience in international software sales, and joins AVG from F-Secure. Witteveen has extensive knowledge of traditional distribution and reseller channels as well as Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other distribution models. He has established and run remote offices in Europe, North America and Asia.

“AVG, with over 80 million users worldwide, is in an exceptional brand position, which creates a natural pull in the market. The opportunity of expanding the footprint globally and setting up channels to monetise the ever growing base is exciting,” said Witteveen.

David Ferguson has taken on the newly-created position of Chief Marketing Officer, with responsibility for global marketing and online business. Prior to this he held a similar position with dot mobile, a mobile virtual network operator partnered with Vodafone. Previously, David spent ten years in the ISP and telecoms sector. David’s early career was in management consultancy, working on assignments worldwide with firms including Ernst & Young and CACI Inc.

“I’m excited to be joining AVG at this time of rapid international expansion,” said Ferguson. “We have a tremendous opportunity to build our business in key markets worldwide, especially online.”

Siobhan MacDermott has been appointed Head of Global Investor Relations and Corporate Communications. Prior to this, she was the vice president of global corporate and executive communications, as well as the interim CMO for McAfee, Inc, responsible for McAfee’s corporate messaging strategy and worldwide public relations.

Prior to joining McAfee in 2005, MacDermott held various senior management positions at RSA Security, Betrusted, Telephia and Sprint PCS. She also founded and managed Takatech, a global consulting firm that specialised in market entry and strategic consulting for many global 2000 companies.

"AVG stands apart in the security industry as evidenced by its continued growth and powerful products," said MacDermott. "My new responsibilities present tremendous opportunities for me to help AVG expand its global reach in the security industry and to position AVG as the provider of choice for security products.

"As AVG continues to expand its global presence, we need to focus on enhancing our global position and mindshare to achieve our strategic objectives," said JR Smith, CEO of AVG Technologies.

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