Faster, Smarter, Safer

James Dartnell reports from the EMEA edition of F5 Networks’ Agility 2017 conference in Barcelona, where the firm’s new CEO François LocohDonou pledged to stay true to the firm’s software offerings while delivering increasingly complex and secure applications to its customers.

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If F5’s own messaging is to be believed, new chief executive François Locoh-Donou has a tall task ahead. The firm was at pains to stress the way in which applications continue to evolve, bringing organisations into the unknown. Applications, the company believes, could become akin to “organs” which will need unprecedented means of being delivered securely and intelligently.

Locoh-Donou said he had been extremely encouraged by the firm’s strong track record, but acknowledged that a shift in focus towards its software products would be beneficial in the drive to provide flexible solutions for customers. “I think what needs to change is our mindset around the way we look at ourselves, which is the same way that the rest of the world looks at us – as an application delivery controller (ADC) company,” he said.

“When you really look at F5 and what the core differentiation of the company is, it’s software, and TMOS (traffic management operating systems). If you ask most of our customers why they buy it from F5 and not from our competitors, it’s the flexibility it gives them and the ability to solve any problems.”