Foundry Loses CTO to F5

Karl Triebes, CTO and VP of engineering at Foundry Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: FDRY), has joined testing titan F5 Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: FFIV), people close to both companies say.

Triebes, one of the switch maker's earliest employees, is en route from Silicon Valley, where Foundry is located, to Seattle, where F5 is, and couldn't be reached for comment. His departure was announced to Foundry employees late last month, spokeswoman Jill Shanks says.

Triebes's primary duties at Foundry are now in the hands of John Burger, VP of engineering.

"That's definitely disruptive," says analyst Shaw Wu of American Technology Research Inc.

Disruptive, but not debilitating. "I think they have a deep bench. The core guys are all still pretty much there," Wu says.Foundry has missed its earnings expectations the last two quarters, citing shortfalls in Asia/Pacific and Europe. The company is still profitable, but the recent staff shuffling certainly isn't helping in an already competitive market.

"We believe Foundry is feeling competitive pressurefrom Extreme and Cisco, causing weakness in an otherwisestrong domestic market," writes Chet White, an analyst for Merriman Curhan Ford & Co.

F5 will announce Triebes's arrival as CTO soon. The company hinted at his hiring in its third-quarter earnings announcement late last month (see F5 Busts Out With Big Numbers). Today, though, F5 declined to comment on its new hire.

But Triebes isn't the only one leaving Foundry. NDCF has learned that Jim Brear, Foundry's VP of Western U.S. sales, has left, too. Interestingly, Foundry just announced Brear's arrival in late April, and he's already bolted for the door.

It's not clear what the circumstances of Brear's departure were; Foundry won't comment, and it's not clear where Brear's headed.Brear previously was VP of worldwide sales at Force10 Networks Inc..

Evan Koblentz, Senior Editor, Next-Gen Data Center Forum