Ex-IBM Exec Takes Over as Bsafe CEO

Published: June 23, 2008

by Dan Burger

Bsafe Information Systems, a security software company that makes products for the OS/400 and i5/OS platform, announced last week that Avi Cramer is the company's new chief executive officer. Bsafe's chairman of the board, Charles Benchabat, praised the selection of Cramer, saying the new CEO will benefit the company with his abilities to "forge strategy and strategic relationships."

Cramer comes to the Israeli-based company from IBM where he was vice president of sales, in charge of large enterprises in Israel. Prior to that, he was CEO and chairman of IBM Global Services Israel and was a member of the Regional Global Services Management Team in Europe.

Cramer says he plans to expand Bsafe's products to additional platforms through strategic alliances while assisting existing customers with ongoing and evolving regulatory compliance requirements. The emphasis on multiple platforms comes from an executive direction stemming from the realization that technological advancements have allowed corporate data to be accessed from numerous sources--including the Internet and other networked connections--and that the dramatic growth in sensitive information being stored in computer systems encompasses multiple platforms, networks, and systems.

Bsafe's product lineup primarily consists of 19 modules belonging to the Bsafe Enterprise Security suite. The software enables business line units, system administrators, and auditors to manage security and compliance tasks across multiple systems, including IBM mainframes and Linux and Windows servers. However, the greatest amount of functionality is delivered only to the i-based Power Systems servers and their predecessors, the System i, i5, iSeries, and AS/400.

Regulatory compliance and IT security management procedures are a Bsafe specialty. The Enterprise Security suite enables users to identify and track areas of vulnerability and limit access to sensitive data, in accordance with the requirements of compliance programs such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), jSOX, Basel II, Control Objectives or Information and related Technology (COBIT), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).

Bsafe's headquarters are located in Herzliya, Israel. Sales and support staff for the United States are located in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and development and support staff are located in Markham, Ontario. The company's products are installed in 54 countries and distributed by more than 70 resellers worldwide.

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