SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Stoke, Inc., today announced that its board of directors has appointed industry veteran Vikash Varma as the company's new president and chief executive officer. Dennis Barsema, who has been serving as acting CEO since February of this year, will continue to serve as a Stoke board member.

"Vikash has an excellent track record and has been particularly successful introducing innovative products into the carrier marketplace," said Matt Murphy, partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Stoke board member. "Vikash's leadership in all facets of company building, deep understanding of the carrier landscape, and track record of delivering on promises to customers, will be of great benefit to the Stoke team, its partners, and customers. We're excited to have him on board!" Prior to joining Stoke, Vikash was president of worldwide sales, marketing and field operations at CloudShield Technologies, a provider of multi-function IP service control and security solutions for carriers. Vikash has also served as president of worldwide sales and field operations at P-Cube Inc., where he was responsible for sales, channels, partners, professional services and support. While at P-Cube, he successfully grew the business with top-tier carriers around the world, establishing P-Cube as the market leader in IP service control solutions. P-Cube was acquired in 2004 by Cisco Systems for $200M. Prior to P-Cube, Vikash was general manager of HP's IP mediation software division.

"The evolution of carriers towards access-independent service delivery will entail significant challenges, including the addition of subscriber intelligence and application awareness to the edge of the network," said Vikash Varma, president and CEO of Stoke. "These requirements necessitate a new class of networking solutions designed with high levels of scale and programmability. Stoke's vision and proven technology leadership in this area are exciting, and I am privileged to have the opportunity to lead the team forward."

Stoke Inc.