Symantec Moves Execs Up

"The appointment of a chief operating officer will enable us to better leverage our broad portfolio of technology and services to best meet the needs of our customers while also ensuring we maintain our focus on the long-term strategy of securing and managing the world's information," said Symantec Chief Executive Officer John Thompson, in a written statement. "Enrique is a strong leader who has proven to me and the board that he is ready to assume broader responsibilities within our company."

Reporting directly to Thompson, Salem will be responsible for product development, sales, services marketing and information technology activities. Salem comes to the position after serving as group president for Worldwide Sales and Marketing. Previously, he served as group president of the Consumer Business Unit, as well as senior vice president of Symantec's Security Products and Solutions.

Along with Salem, Symantec also named Hughes, who recently served as group president for Symantec Global Services, as the new chief strategy officer. Also reporting directly to Thompson, Hughes will be responsible for corporate development and strategy, focusing on new business incubation, as well as software-as"a-service and other areas of internal investment.

Hughes comes to his new position from a background in strategy after spending 10 years at McKinsey and Company, where he founded and led the North American Software Industry practice

In addition, the company plans to consolidate its services business into its IT organization, which execs say will allow the company to better leverage its investments for both internal and external IT-related services.

The new consolidated department will be under the direction of J. David Thompson, who was recently named president of Information Technology and Services Group.