Veteran Cybersecurity Executive May Mitchell Joins Open Systems as Chief Marketing Officer

Redwood City, Calif. - September 13, 2022 - Open Systems, the only cybersecurity services provider with Mission Control, today announced the appointment of May Mitchell as its chief marketing officer (CMO). An award-winning marketing executive with more than 25 years in cybersecurity, Mitchell will lead the company’s global marketing strategy, branding, messaging, communications, demand generation, and partner marketing development efforts. Her specific goals include scaling new business growth and increasing customer retention by aligning and executing with sales and partners to deliver value for next generation MDR services.

Mitchell’s storied career includes senior- and executive-level marketing roles with Symantec, Cylance, IronKey, Forcepoint, and McAfee. Her achievements include launching over 200 products; building strategic partnerships with Microsoft, Cisco, RSA, and other top IT vendors; and participating in more than 30 successful mergers and acquisitions. Mitchell comes to Open Systems from iboss, where she served as senior vice president of Global Marketing for the privately held Zero Trust cloud provider. Prior to iboss, Mitchell was the vice president of marketing and global channel for Cylance, a fast-growing AI-driven endpoint prevention solution acquired by BlackBerry for more than $1.4 billion.

Mitchell has received numerous accolades recognizing her successes. She was named to CRN’s Power 100 Women in the Channel for each of the past 10 years, included in CyberScoop’s list of the Top 50 Women in Cybersecurity, and received the Top 50 Marketer Award from OnCon.

“May’s experience and successful track record make her the ideal CMO to differentiate us from competitors and increase our presence in the growing, but fragmented, managed detection and response (MDR) market,” said Geoff Haydon, CEO of Open Systems. “In addition to her proven ability to build strategic partnerships, launch new products, and pioneer new markets, May’s deep understanding of customers and their cybersecurity needs make her an invaluable addition to our executive team.”

“Organizations are struggling to reduce cybersecurity complexity, with a growing number choosing to fully operationalize their existing security investments rather than deploying more tools,” said May Mitchell, CMO of Open Systems. “Open Systems simplifies security for organizations with a Microsoft Security portfolio by enabling its full functionality to be used by the highly automated platform at the heart of our managed security services. This results in fully operationalized security that is architected for customers individual business workflows. This is a unique value that Open Systems delivers, and I am thrilled to be a part of the leadership team.”

Open Systems Managed Security Services
Open Systems believes a comprehensive and tailored cybersecurity approach is essential for rapid threat detection and an effective response to protect an organization’s most critical assets. The Open Systems MDR+ and Open Systems SASE+ services with Mission Control combine certified experts, exemplary processes, and seamless technology to deliver 24×7 security and connectivity protection specialized to an organization’s environment and business operations.

• Open Systems MDR+
• Open Systems SASE+

About Open Systems

Open Systems is an AI-first SASE platform company delivering secure access and networking to help enterprises connect users, applications and infrastructure across complex hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Its proprietary platform combines SSE capabilities, including ZTNA, SWG, CASB and FWaaS, with SD-WAN, end-to-end connectivity, unified policy management, and advanced analytics in a single architecture.

While many cybersecurity providers focus primarily on advancing technology capabilities, Open Systems combines its AI-first SASE platform with an execution model designed for real-world operability, ensuring services are not only deployed, but continuously run, adapted and improved through a combination of AI-enabled operations and NOC-based expertise (Mission Control), built on decades of operational experience, helping organizations reduce complexity, increase visibility and strengthen security outcomes at global scale.

Founded in Switzerland in 1990, Open Systems generates more than USD 100 million in annual revenue and supports global enterprise customers operating in more than 180 countries. Since 2024, the company has been part of Swiss Post, combining Swiss trust and stability with global reach. As a European alternative to US- and Israel-based cybersecurity providers, Open Systems is guided by strong principles around sovereignty requirements, regulatory alignment, transparency and shared responsibility - taking clear ownership for security, performance and operational outcomes, helping organizations maintain control in an increasingly complex digital landscape.