VMware (VMW) has hired Big Switch Networks co-founder Guido Appenzeller as chief technology strategy officer for its business focused on networking and security, according to Forbes. The appointment is another indication that the virtualization giant is looking to up its game in the software-defined networking (SDN) space.

Appenzeller officially started with VMware Oct. 6, according to a VMware spokesperson who spoke to GigaOM. Prior to joining the VMware team, Appenzeller held the CEO slot at Big Switch and more recently transitioned to the role of CTO before leaving the company earlier this year. He has managed OpenFlow development as a professor at Stanford University and was also co-founder and CTO of Voltage Security, according to CRN.

Longtime Cisco veteran Dominick Delfino also joined the VMware team late last month. It’s not clear how VMware plans to proceed in the SDN space, but it looks as though the company finally has enough big guns on its side that the competition is taking notice. While nothing is certain in terms of VMware’s successes in the SDN space, its acquisition of AirWatch in Feburary has helped bolster the company’s rep in the enterprise mobile management and mobile device management markets. We’ll see whether these latest moves translate into equal success in the SDN space.