Desktone, Inc., provider of the first virtual client computing platform that enables desktops as a service, today announced significant expansion of its management team. Five new executives have joined the company: Les Yetton, Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Business Development; Steven Baron, Vice President of Engineering; Julian Weinstock, Vice President of Product Management; Mark Lewandowski, Vice President of Support and Operations; and Jeff Fisher, Senior Director of Strategic Development.

These executives join a vastly experienced Desktone management team, consisting of serial entrepreneurs, former heads of virtualization, client computing and services businesses, and leaders in technology innovation.

“Each of these five gentlemen made his mark by growing software companies into successful businesses that led their industries in innovation and customer adoption,” said Harry Ruda, CEO of Desktone. “I’m very pleased they chose to pool their considerable talents at Desktone.”

Les Yetton brings over two decades of management and leadership experience to Desktone. He hails from Softricity, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2006. Yetton joined Softricity, the pioneer in application virtualization, as Vice President of Sales and Business Development in September of 2000. He was part of a new team of executives brought in to redirect the company into the enterprise space. Yetton helped re-structure the company for enterprise software sales, recruited key management team members, and met sales targets for 14 consecutive quarters. Yetton was the lead executive responsible for the relationship with Microsoft, which ultimately led to the acquisition. At Microsoft, Yetton was a Director of Business Development in the Management and Solutions Division. He was part of the transition team that helped integrate the Softricity Sales and SE organization into Microsoft. Prior to Softricity, he was President of Axis Communications, Inc., a Swedish-based networking company, where he helped grow revenue from $2.5 million to more than $90 million. Before joining Axis, he held a variety of sales, marketing and sales management positions at Unisys Corporation. Yetton holds a B.S. in economics from Norwich University.

Steve Baron has over 25 years of executive management and software engineering experience. Before coming to Desktone, Baron worked with Altaworks as Vice President of Engineering, managing development for enterprise customer requirements and OEM channel partner support. When it was acquired by OPNET Technologies, Baron expanded their solution via technology licensing and new development. Earlier, Baron was VP of Engineering for QuickBuy, guiding the commercialization of the company's distributed e-commerce technology into an Internet service. Throughout his career, Baron has held leadership positions at Engage (a CMGI company), Red Brick Systems, and Digital Equipment Corporation. He also had interim executive and technical advisory roles with early-stage companies such as Steeplechase Networks, AlgoMagic Technologies, and FireStar Software. Baron holds an M.B.A. and B.S. in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from the State University of New York at Albany.

Julian Weinstock has more than 20 years of experience in developing, managing and launching software products. He joined Desktone from Microsoft, where, following the company’s acquisition of Softricity, he led the product planning and strategic roadmap for application virtualization. While at Softricity, Weinstock served as Director of Product Management. Weinstock also served as Director of Product Management for Salary.com, where he was credited with transforming its software-as-a-service concept into a revenue-generating solution in less than a year. Weinstock previously worked at OpenMarket, where he helped grow revenue of the Content Server business from zero to more than $80 million per year. Earlier in his career, Weinstock worked at Soudronic AG in Switzerland, where he created a new product line and drove revenue from zero to $40 million. Weinstock earned an S.M. in management (MBA) from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a B.S. in EE/CS from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.

Mark Lewandowski is a seasoned customer service executive with over 17 years experience. He joined Desktone from Saba Software, which acquired Centra Software in 2006. Lewandowski had been Vice President of Worldwide Support at Centra. At Saba and Centra, Lewandowski was responsible for generating a third of the companies’ annual revenues through an 80% profit margin and 90% renewal rate on maintenance renewals. Prior to joining Centra, Lewandowski held numerous positions at Wildfire Communications (now part of France Telecom’s Orange division), which he joined as an early stage start-up. Lewandowski started the customer service team and network operations center. He was also responsible for all implementation and onsite services, data center operations and manufacturing operations. Lewandowski began his career in support at Viewlogic Systems (now part of Mentor Graphics). Lewandowski holds a BSEE degree from Northeastern University and a J.D. from New England School of Law.

Jeff Fisher has 15 years of strategic business development, marketing and technical sales experience in client and desktop virtualization. He joined Desktone from Microsoft, where he was a senior member of the company’s “War on Cost” team responsible for helping customers lower the total cost of ownership of Windows desktops. He was also a key strategist for Microsoft’s Flexible Desktop Computing (FDC) initiative, which promotes alternate ways of delivering Windows client environments. Prior to Microsoft, Fisher was Director of Business Development at Softricity, where he helped manage the alliance with Microsoft that ultimately led to Microsoft acquiring the company. Earlier, Fisher worked at Citrix Systems as an Enterprise Sales Engineer, was Director, Business Development and Marketing for Wired Business, a telecommunications service provider, and Senior Systems Architect and Instructor at NETLAN, a systems integrator. Fisher holds a BA from Cornell University and a MBA from Columbia Business School.