Hortonworks taps SAP exec Ingrid Burton for CMO
Open-source Hadoop vendor Hortonworks has named former SAP exec Ingrid Burton as its new chief marketing officer.
Burton's resume spans 25 years and a handful of technology companies, including Sun Microsystems, GTE, Megatek and United Technologies. Most recently at SAP she led marketing efforts around SAP's data and analytics offerings, namely HANA.
"Ingrid's vast technology marketing experience and proven results will greatly contribute to our market position, and we are excited to welcome her to the company," Hortonworks CEO Rob Bearden said in a statement.
Burton's new gig with Hortonworks will have her heading up the company's entire go-to-market strategy during a crucial time for the Palo Alto-based Hadoop distributor.
Hortonworks launched a successful IPO in December 2014, but the field of Hadoop players is becoming increasingly crowded, and the commercialization of open source is fueling growth for not only Hortonworks, but also its rivals MapR and Cloudera.
What's more, Hadoop adoption is still an scary undertaking for many enterprises, so Burton will need to fine tune the Hortonworks sales pitch if the company hopes to keep its spot on the Hadoop distro leaderboard.
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