Milestone Appoints VP Human Resources And Director Of Sales For Northwest Europe

Growth continues with new talent from Nokia and internal promotion of proven achiever

Milestone Systems, the open platform company in IP video management software (VMS), has hired a new Vice President of Human Resources and Site Operations at its headquarters in Denmark and promoted the Danish & Benelux Country Manager to Director of Sales for Northwest Europe.

Claudia Lillebjerg Simonsen is the new Vice President of HR and Site Operations at Milestone Systems’ corporate headquarters. She is supporting continued growth at Milestone Systems through employee and management development. The company is one of the world’s leading producers of software for IP-based video surveillance with more than 400 employed in 15 country offices.

"Milestone Systems is a very ambitious company demonstrating an impressive growth rate. Constant development is part of our DNA. Through such means as employee satisfaction research, talent development and loyalty programs, I will contribute to ensure that this trend continues," says Claudia Lillebjerg Simonsen, VP of HR and Site Operations at Milestone Systems.

Milestone Systems is a global company consisting of many different teams and competencies, where Simonsen will play an important role in promoting internal development. It will be her focus to optimize the workflows and organizational processes in the company, maintaining the cultural diversity and cooperation between the individual units.

“It is essential to provide clarity and job satisfaction for each individual while ensuring that employees work within an overarching structure towards the same goals to make sure all the pieces form a whole. I have a talent for boosting such processes," explains Simonsen.

Simonsen has many years of experience with strategic leadership and HR from international IT companies. She has been the Global Business Human Resources Director at Nokia and the Country Manager for Nokia in Denmark.

Lars Larsen, the Chief Financial Officer at Milestone Systems, is looking forward to cooperation with the new VP: "Claudia Lillebjerg Simonsen is a professional and competent leader who can spot the talent of an individual and understands how to support staff development in an organizational context. She will help to ensure that Milestone achieves the ambitious strategic goals we have set. As part of the extended management team, she will also help support and develop co-operation between our three business units: Professional Products with focus on product development, marketing and sales of less complex solutions, Corporate Products with focus on more complex solutions, and Incubation and Ventures, responsible for cultivation and development of future products and services for IP video surveillance."

Raziel Bareket, the previous Milestone Systems Country Manager for Denmark & Benelux, is taking on more responsibilities: with an additional UK team of six, he will also focus on business development in the UK and Ireland.

"I look forward to these added challenges and opportunities in the UK market, which has enormous potential for growth. England has a large base of prospective customers, who currently use analog video surveillance systems but eventually will migrate to IP-based video technologies. Milestone is a leading manufacturer of IP video management software and we are going to take a large bite of this cake," says Raziel Bareket who can now call himself Sales Director for Northwest Europe, continuing to cover the Netherlands and Belgium.

"We will focus on boosting our UK distributors’ technical and commercial capabilities as we work towards expanding our dealer base. As a result, we will position ourselves within the market of smaller and medium-sized installations while at the same time achieving business growth with more complex major projects that are already in process with our nationwide partners," says Bareket.

Bareket started out in Milestone Systems as Regional Sales Manager for Benelux, in September 2007. In March of that year he took on the responsibilities of Country Manager for Denmark and Israel.

“Raziel has a unique track record in making his territories scale for Milestone, and it is that capability which makes him very valuable for us. He helped develop Milestone’s initial channel partner program and implemented it with excellence while spearheading efficient and powerful channel activities that have been replicated throughout Europe. He has now reached a stage in his career where he is ready for the next step and therefore is now promoted to Territory Director of Northwest Europe,” states Eric Fullerton, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer for Milestone Systems. “I’m expecting him to sprinkle his gold dust over the new territory like he has done before and achieve the same performance as earlier. Raziel is a perfect example of people in growth creating companies in growth.”

About Milestone Systems
Founded in 1998, Milestone Systems is a global industry leader in open platform IP video management software. Delivering powerful surveillance that is easy to manage, reliable and proven in thousands of customer installations around the world, Milestone technology supports flexible choices in network hardware and integrations with other systems. Sold through partners in more than 100 countries, Milestone solutions help ‘video enable’ organizations – managing risks, protecting people and assets, optimizing processes and reducing costs. For more information, visit www.milestonesys.com.