Fortinet EMEA boss Simonelli says arrivederci

Luca Simonelli to take a few months' break before weighing up next move

Fortinet's vice president of EMEA, Luca Simonelli, is exiting the networking security vendor after eight years.

Simonelli, who is also currently running UK operations at the firm on an interim basis, resigned last month to take a break from the industry. His last day will be Thursday.

"My plan is to take a break for three to four months and then look at the options, both in the ICT security space and outside," Simonelli told ChannelWeb.

He joined Fortinet's Italian operation in 2004, taking the EMEA reins in September 2010.

"Fortinet is a good company with good technology. It went well for seven years but I had a hard time during the last year," he said.

Simonelli has headed up the UK business since the departure of Paul Judd in June. He said he leaves the UK operation in sound shape.

"My reasons for leaving are not to do with the UK," he said. "I enjoyed working with the UK team and we were starting to see the results of that hard work."

Simonelli declined to comment on his succession strategy, either for the UK or EMEA. Fortinet was unavailable for comment.