SAN JOSE, Calif., August 13, 2007 - Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) announced the appointment of Edzard J.C. Overbeek to be responsible for the Japan theater effective August 13. Overbeek will replace Yasuki Kurosawa who is stepping down from the position for health reasons.
Before taking the current position, Overbeek served as Vice President of Cisco Europe (European Markets Theater) responsible for Commercial, Strategic Planning & Operations, and he was involved in the formulation and implementation of overall strategies and various programs targeting small-medium businesses (SMB) and mid-sized corporations, overseeing growth of the business.
Overbeek was involved in the mid-long term strategic planning of each segment such as the enterprise, service provider and public sector segment as the leader of the strategic planning division in the European Markets Theater.
He plans to utilize this experience to drive Cisco as it enters a new stage and work to further enrich communication in Japan as a company supporting the foundations of human networks.
After Overbeek arrives in Japan, he is scheduled to be appointed as the representative of Cisco Systems G.K. At the same time, Yasuki Kurosawa is scheduled to step down from his position as representative of Cisco Systems G.K. and be appointed as an Senior Advisor to the company. Kurosawa will also remain a Cisco Senior Vice President.