Brocade (BRCD) has appointed IT industry veteran Christine Heckart as its new Chief Marketing Officer, tasking her with driving the strategic direction of the company’s global marketing.

Heckart will work to increase the company’s status as a leading network provider for data centers worldwide, according to the company. She will report to Brocade CEO Lloyd Carney, and will be essential in generating brand awareness and driving marketing initiatives for network functions virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN).

Heckart has worked in the IT industry for more than 25 years, and holding marketing positions in companies including ServiceSource, NetApp, Juniper Networks (JNPR) and Microsoft (MSFT).

“With the adoption of fabric-based networking, NFV, SDN and cloud-based computing, end users are actively seeking technology partners that can help them drive business transformation,” Heckart said in a statement. “I am excited by Brocade’s differentiated solutions, and believe we are well-positioned to drive the next wave of data center innovation. Brocade’s 18-year heritage in the data center and its partner ecosystem is well-renowned and I believe it is an exciting time to join the company.”

Brocade has made several big changes recently, including an updated channel partner program that focuses on SDN in addition to the company’s purchase of network virtualization company Vyatta in November.