Commvault appoints ex-Mandiant exec Balaji Rao to lead India & SAARC business

US-based data management and protection company Commvault has appointed Balaji Rao as the Area Vice President for India & SAARC, where he will be responsible for driving business growth and expanding market share in the region. 

Prior to joining Commvault, Rao worked as the country manager for India and SAARC region with cybersecurity firm Mandiant for a little over a year. He brings over 25 years of experience in the industry and worked across enterprises like Veritas, VMware and HPE. 

For Commvault that provides a range of on-premises and software-as-a-service (SaaS) or subscription data backup, his appointment is an important commitment to strengthen its leadership and go-to-market team in India to help drive the company’s next wave of growth, the company said in a statement. 

Marco Fanizzi Senior Vice President and General Manager, Commvault International, said that the “company has a long-established relation within its ecosystem in India,” and that this “appointment will continue our increasing positive market perception, locally and across the world, allowing us to bring the very best new talent, ideas and creativity to our Commvault family”. 

Commvault is bullish on its data protection and cyber security capabilities in recent months, post its acquisition of TrapX Security, an Israeli cyber startup in January this year. Earlier this month, Commvault announced the availability of Metallic ThreatWise, an early warning system that proactively surfaces unknown and zero-day threats to minimise compromised data and business impact. 

“As the market requirement for sophisticated security solutions increases, our unique Data Security offering — ThreatWise — enables customers to unlock the value of cyber deception for critical data,” Rao said, whose LinkedIn profile states that he is “passionate about managing people — coaching and mentoring — as well as cross functional teams like pre-sales, marketing, operations, channel and professional services to deliver intrinsic value to customers.