Catherine Edwards

Catherine Edwards is an executive marketer and senior communications consultant within the cloud computing, SaaS, security, Internet technology and healthcare sectors, currently serving as Marketing Director at Zafesoft Inc., VP of Communications at CloudNOW. Previously Catherine held Director of Communications positions with CloudPassage, ResponseLogix and Altor Networks.

Although Catherine’s education  was not technical, she parlayed her background as a journalist coupled with her MBA from Boston University into the ability to successfully  launch companies, bring new products to market, create branding, and enter new market segments. 

Catherine spent the first half of her career in corporate roles with Fortune 50 companies including DEC, Sun, Lotus, and Compaq. As she moved from corporate roles to start-ups, from start-ups to nonprofit to consulting, she describes the progression of her career, and the proactive choices she made to find and create that work-life balance, while choosing a fulfilling career working with people, companies and technologies she cares about.

She spoke eloquently about the evolution of the technology industry, remarking on the heightened expenditures and activities around Y2K, which also coincided with the dot com bubble. Catherine provided an interesting perspective about the dot-com bust, and how it was related to companies anticipating continued IT expenditures to remain at the same or higher level pre-Y2K.

But with the advancement of IT technologies, the increase (finally) in investments, the resurrected IPO market, Cloud computing will be the next mandatory IT wave. Catherine encourages us to see the opportunities around the convergence of cloud solutions – public, private, community and hybrid, along with mobile solutions with the plethora of devices now available and a user-base demanding that their devices get integrated into corporate environments, and big data in general.

The convergence in trends drives the need for security.  Catherine is also Marketing Director at Zafesoft, the leading content security provider that provides persistent, track-able, and transparent security that enables secure information collaboration anywhere in the world, inside or outside the firewall. 

In terms of work-life balance, Catherine had the following advice:

• You don't have to choose between having a full life with kids and having a successful career.
• The technology trends of cloud computing and mobile devices provide the flexibility need to balance work and family.
• The more successful you are, the better role model you will be for your sons and daughters.  They will see you excelling in your career while raising your family.

To conclude our conversation, Catherine, in her role as VP of Communications, invites us to attend CloudNow events, volunteer to support the community, receive their newsletters, and connect with other women in technology who are invested in driving the future of the cloud. For more information, visit CloudNow at http://www.cloudnetworkofwomen.com, visit Zafesoft at  http://www.zafesoft.com, or visit Catherine's website at http://www.csemarketing.com.