Top Tech Talent Flock to The Rackspace Cloud, Supporting Rapid Growth and New Technology Endeavors

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Rackspace Cloud, the cloud computing division of Rackspace® Hosting (NYSE:RAX), today announced that six new key personnel have joined the company to spearhead strategic technology efforts aimed to position the company for continued growth and technology leadership. The new “Rackers” (as employees are called at Rackspace) bring significant product development experience from Microsoft, Yahoo, and Canonical where they held leadership roles in high growth phases in their companies, driving the development of Microsoft Exchange, Yahoo! Media, and the fastest growing Linux operating system, Ubuntu.

“I love to geek out on data centers in general, and I love large scale automation (and because I can enjoy Texas BBQ again!).”

”We’re very proud that Rackspace’s reputation for innovation, opportunity and growth are attracting top technical and business talent from industry players that have been there, and done that,” said Emil Sayegh, general manager, The Rackspace Cloud. “We’re continuing investment to deepen our leadership product development bench to support our growth while expanding, and scaling our services.”

These executive new hires will support The Rackspace Cloud division which offers the company’s popular cloud services – Cloud Servers, Cloud Sites and Cloud Files – and the ecosystem of tools, applications and services created on The Rackspace Cloud and cataloged at tools.rackspacecloud.com. Rackspace, known for its great culture, is ranked 43 on FORTUNE’S® 12th annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” list. This is the second consecutive year that Rackspace has appeared on the list.

The new team members include:

Harper Reed, Nepholologist, The Rackspace Cloud, a legendary “geek” in the technology space and a longtime Rackspace customer as former CTO of skinnyCorp/Threadless, brings deep expertise in scaling massive infrastructure and supporting customers. Harper, known for his passion for technology and customers, joined The Rackspace Cloud to “work with some of the best technologists in the business and lots of servers.”
John Purrier, Director of Software Development, The Rackspace Cloud, will lead Cloud Files and Cloud Sites development, and help the company’s Microsoft technology footprint in general. He will manage development efforts for new cloud solutions at Rackspace. A Microsoft veteran, John formerly led the Microsoft Exchange development team. Prior to Microsoft, he served as CEO of Junqbox and Product Information Network and CTO of Global Market Insite. John joined The Rackspace Cloud because “he wants to define and build the next generation systems that will fundamentally change how computing is done in the future.”
Mark Collier, Vice President of Business Development, Rackspace Hosting, was formerly a senior executive with the Yahoo! Media division and managed the strategic partnerships for Yahoo! Music. Mark will lead Rackspace’s efforts to develop new partnerships for cloud, email and applications and managed hosting. Mark joined Rackspace to “let my inner geek sing -- playing with cloud computing all day.”
Michael Foster, Head of Cloud Engineering, The Rackspace Cloud, led major data center automation projects at Microsoft and held technical positions with many start-ups. He will oversee the company’s Technical Operations, DC Engineering, and Automation projects allowing The Rackspace Cloud to scale seamlessly. Michael joined The Rackspace Cloud because “I love to geek out on data centers in general, and I love large scale automation (and because I can enjoy Texas BBQ again!).”
Nick Longo, Chief Rainmaker, The Rackspace Cloud, is a successful serial entrepreneur who founded CoffeeCup Software, an award-winning website design software company who had amazing customer loyalty. He brings years of start-up experience and innovation to his new role directing web marketing, and community centered activities. Nick joined The Rackspace Cloud because “I wanted to work with the smartest people in the world to do something great, and the transition made perfect sense given the SaaS Cloud will overtake all downloadable software very soon!”
Rick Clark, Cloud Servers and Slicehost Development Leader, The Rackspace Cloud, was formerly Engineering Manager at Canonical, the company that produces the popular open-source Linux distribution, Ubuntu. While at Canonical, Rick managed Ubuntu Server, cloud/virtualization, and security. He will guide ongoing development for Rackspace's IaaS offerings, specifically Cloud Servers and SliceHost, and advance the company’s open cloud philosophy. Rick joined The Rackspace Cloud “for the culture, and to work with the best technical minds to develop technologies that solve deep customer problems in new and creative ways.”

The Rackspace Cloud is always looking for top talent, even in a tough economy. Visit www.rackspacecloud.com/aboutus/jobs to inquire about current job openings.

About Rackspace Hosting

Rackspace Hosting is the world’s leader in hosting and cloud computing and is ranked #43 on FORTUNE Magazine’s 100 Best Companies to work for in the United States for 2009. Rackspace provides its customers with Fanatical Support ® in delivering their portfolio of hosted IT services, including Managed Hosting, The Rackspace Cloud and Email and Apps. For more information, visit www.rackspace.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of Rackspace Hosting could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, any statements concerning anticipated operational and financial benefits from Rackspace strategies related to additions or changes in leadership, the success of leadership transition, company growth or success of new initiatives, any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing.. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the integration and effectiveness of the new leadership into the Rackspace culture, the continuation of the current difficult economic conditions or further fluctuations, disruptions, instability or downturns in the economy, the effectiveness of managing company growth, infrastructure failures, technological and competitive factors, regulatory factors, and other risks that are described in Rackspace Hosting’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, filed with the SEC on August 13, 2009. Except as required by law, Rackspace Hosting assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.