Akamai EMEA announces strategic appointments

Building on its successes in the Telco market through relationships with telecommunication giants such as Orange and Swisscom, Akamai has appointed Mark Weeks as Regional Vice President Service Providers, EMEA. Based at Akamai’s new European head office in Addlestone, UK, Weeks is responsible for growing the business transacted with and through the service providers in EMEA. He joined Akamai from BT Global Services where he was the General Manager for Global Banking & Financial Markets since 2010, prior to which he worked in BT Wholesale, managing its relationships with Vodafone and BT Group businesses. He brings with him a wealth of experience within the Telco industry having joined BT Global Services in 2008 from Canadian telecommunications equipment manufacturer, Nortel Networks, where he managed the company’s global relationship with BT. Before to joining Nortel, Mark Weeks was Vice President EMEA at Shiva Europe Ltd, a company acquired by Intel Corporation in 1998.

Also based in the UK, is John Dillon, Akamai’s new Vice President of Marketing, EMEA, whose role is to further build Akamai’s brand and drive the marketing strategy in the region.

Dillon joined Akamai from Rightster where he was Vice President of Product and Marketing. Before this he held the position of Vice President of Marketing of Alcatel Lucent’s Software and Services portfolios, a role in which he was executive owner of the company's internal and external digital presence, in addition to overseeing the ‘ng Connect’ innovation and ecosystem program. Dillon joined Alcatel-Lucent via the acquisition of Velocix, a specialist provider of digital Content Delivery Network (CDN) solutions, where he served as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).

Joining the fast-growing team, Anita Athwal has been appointed as Senior HR Director EMEA. Athwal will be responsible for ensuring that a seamless HR offering is provided to the region in respect of Talent Acquisition, Compensation and Benefits, Employee Relations, Performance Management and Learning & Development. She brings over 20 years‘ experience in Human Resources which has been gained in both large international organisations and small privately owned businesses. Her previous employers have included: Monitise Plc, Morse Group Ltd, Technetix, BAA, Alcatel Telecom, Nortel Networks, EDS and Cornhill Insurance.

This rapid expansion of Akamai’s senior team is indicative of the exponential growth the company has experienced, having doubled the EMEA employee numbers in the last 18 months to meet its customers’ needs.

Speaking about the recent appointments, Mark Vargo, Senior Vice President & General Manager EMEA, said; “With the opening of our new EMEA headquarters in the UK, these appointments mark a significant boost for increasing Akamai’s profile and sales in this region. I am very excited about having this new team on board and to work with them as we look forward to 2014 and beyond.”