SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT), provider of innovative, cloud-based
communications and computing solutions, today announced the appointment
of Ben Taft to the position of Vice President of Inside Sales, reporting
to 8x8 President Kim Niederman.
As Vice President of Inside Sales, Taft will manage a world-class sales
organization, building upon existing industry-defining programs,
initiatives and practices while working in tandem with marketing,
product development and customer support to maintain the company's market
leading position in the hosted
PBX and unified communications industry.
An accomplished B2B technology sales, marketing and business development
executive with over 15 years experience, Taft most recently served as
Senior Director, Global Sales Strategy & Transformation at Brocade where
he constructed and managed the strategy for sales and customer
engagement employed by a worldwide sales organization. Prior to that, as
Sr. Director, Global Inside Sales at Brocade, Taft was responsible for
building the company's global inside sales organization, including CRM
systems, call center technology, sales training and best-in-practice
sales and lead qualification processes. Before Brocade, Taft spent
nearly ten years at Foundry Networks as Vice President Corporate
Marketing & Alliances and Director, Global Sales & Field Operations. At
Foundry, Taft provided leadership for corporate branding, messaging,
promotion and industry thought leadership and worked closely with
product management to develop and market a technology roadmap to
facilitate new market entry and better serve existing customer base.
"Ben is not only proficient in building and managing inside sales teams
across the globe, he's also an exceptionally strategic and visionary
executive whose talent and expertise will serve the entire company well
as we continue to lead the industry in technological innovation, market
share and customer satisfaction," said 8x8 President Kim Niederman. "I'm
thrilled to welcome Ben to the 8x8 team and look forward to continued
growth and success with him leading our world class sales organization."
"8x8 has shown remarkable growth on all fronts — revenue, market share
and profitability — and yet there remains a massive opportunity ahead to
capture a greater share of the largely untapped business communications
market that has not yet transitioned to cloud-based solutions," said
Taft. "This is truly an exciting time to join a company like 8x8 that
has already made a mark for itself in the industry but has not yet hit
the tip of the iceberg. I am proud to have been chosen for this critical
role in the 8x8 organization."
About 8x8, Inc.
8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT) empowers business conversations for more than
30,000 small and medium-sized businesses with cloud communications
services that include hosted
PBX telephony, unified communications, call
center software and video conferencing solutions. The company has
been delivering business communications services since 2004 and has
garnered a reputation for technical excellence and outstanding
reliability. In 2012, 8x8 was named a market "leader" in Gartner's
Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) in
North America and was recognized as the No. 1 Provider of Hosted IP
Telephony by Frost
& Sullivan and Synergy
Research Group. For additional information, visit www.8x8.com,
or connect with 8x8 on Facebook,
LinkedIn
and Twitter.

8x8, Inc.
Joan Citelli, 408-654-0970
jcitelli@8x8.com
Source: 8x8
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