Former Apple Executive Takes Global SMB Role At McAfee

Bill Rielly, who led SMB business strategy for Apple Online Store globally, was named senior vice president for small and midsize business at McAfee. The company said Rielly will report directly to Michael DeCesare, president of McAfee. Rielly is credited with successfully helping drive the adoption of iPhone, iPad and Mac by business owners globally. He also held executive positions in SMB at Microsoft and in e-commerce at JP Morgan Chase.

Earlier in his career, he worked at a small company, running a business unit at software developer PRT Group. Rielly graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served in the United States Army.

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McAfee recently refreshed its endpoint security portfolio. McAfee released "Business" endpoint protection for companies with fewer than 1,000 seats. In addition, the company sells a completely cloud-based security platform for SMBs that incorporates antivirus, a firewall and Web filter, email security and encryption.

McAfee is trying to make gains on its chief competitor Symantec, which is in the middle of retooling its entire product strategy. Symantec is expected to roll out product road maps beginning this summer. McAfee also is seeing increased competition from Kaspersky Lab, Sophos and Trend Micro, which are each rolling out cloud-enabled security suites for SMBs.

In a statement, DeCesare said Rielly was brought in to help drive the company's portfolio and cloud offerings in the SMB market worldwide.

PUBLISHED ON JUNE 17, 2013