Kaspersky to part ways with European boss

Ilijana Vavan understood to be leaving anti-virus vendor

Kaspersky Lab is parting ways with European boss Ilijana Vavan in the latest management shuffle at the anti-virus vendor, ChannelWeb understands.

Executive vice president of Europe Vavan joined Kaspersky in January 2010 following 11 years at Microsoft and was effectively the vendor's top European employee outside of Moscow.

But according to sources, Vavan is heading for the exit doors. Kaspersky refused to confirm or deny the rumours, saying it had "no information" on the story.

The move comes four months after Kaspersky rehired Malcolm Tuck as UK managing director.

Last year Kaspersky set out its goal of becoming one of the world's top-three IT security players after 2010 sales broke the $500m (£314m) barrier.

Chris Walsh, sales director at Kasperksy distributor Exclusive Networks, said: "Kaspersky has stayed true to its roots as its product has evolved, unlike other vendors acquiring companies to then bundle them together. We've seen great uptake from partners you wouldn't normally associate with endpoint solutions as they look to build Kaspersky into their own cloud-based or hosted solutions as another layer of security around their virtual environments.

Ian Kilpatrick, chairman of Kaspersky distributor Wick Hill, said: "We are aware that Kaspersky has been making some changes as they continue to grow. Recent surveys have shown them taking market share and also getting recognition for market-leading reseller feedback, so the changes overall are working well for them."