Raytheon-led cyber joint venture adds to government leadership team, eyes international growth
By
Ross Wilkers
The Raytheon-led cybersecurity joint venture Forcepoint adds two industry veterans to the leadership ranks at its global government segment as business seeks international expansion.
The Raytheon-led cyber product venture Forcepoint has added a pair of executives to its government group leadership team with an eye toward international expansion nearly two years after the business’ initial formation.
Austin, Texas-based Forcepoint has named former Juniper Networks federal leader and 30-year sector veteran Tim Solms as senior vice president and general manager for the venture’s global government business out of Herndon, Va. Forcepoint also hired former Polycom public sector head and 25-year sector veteran Sean Berg as vice president of sales for the government group.
Forcepoint rebranded to its current name at the start of 2016 from its former Raytheon | Websense identity adopted upon the venture’s launch in April 2015 after the weapons maker Raytheon took an 80-percent stake in the business from then-owners Vista Equity Partners. Raytheon sought additional government and commercial revenue streams beyond its traditional missile and weapon manufacturing business.
Raytheon reported $566 million in revenue out of Forcepoint for 2016.
At Forcepoint, Solms will be responsible for its growth strategy in overseas markets and lead efforts to expand footprints in the cross-domain and insider threat markets. Berg will oversee domestic and international sales functions and the construction of partnerships with customers and other industry players.
Solms more recently was vice president of Juniper’s federal business and managing director for worldwide government there. His career also includes roles such as general manager for Defense Department business at Microsoft; senior director for DoD, NATO and federal international at VMware; and other government-focused positions at Dell.
Berg’s prior role at Polycom was vice president of public sector with responsibility for sales and strategies in the federal marketplace along with state and local, education and healthcare. Berg is also a 15-year Dell veteran and former director of its defense and intelligence business.