SUSE appoints Margaret Dawson as CMO to boost growth
SUSE has appointed Margaret Dawson as its new Chief Marketing Officer as part of efforts to enhance its global marketing and deepen customer and partner engagement.
Margaret Dawson steps into the role with more than 25 years' experience in technology marketing and product strategy, having previously held senior positions at Amazon, Microsoft, HP, Red Hat, and most recently, Chronosphere. At Chronosphere, Dawson served as Chief Marketing Officer, where she worked collaboratively to increase the company's brand awareness, marketing engagements and revenue.
Her appointment comes as SUSE marks its 33rd year in enterprise open source software, a period during which the company is placing fresh emphasis on global expansion and reinforcing regional leadership across Europe, Asia and the Americas.
SUSE said that Dawson will assume responsibility for SUSE's global marketing strategy, with an aim to ensure consistent messaging for brand, product, customer and community touchpoints.
"As the demand for choice among enterprise customers grows, SUSE has never been better poised to lead. With a proven track record of scaling technology brands and turning marketing into a true growth engine, I'm confident in Margaret's expertise to accelerate our global leadership and capitalise on this moment," said DP van Leeuwen, CEO of SUSE.
Dawson's remit includes defining and advancing SUSE's position in the enterprise open source software sector. She joins a leadership team that SUSE has recently expanded in regional markets.
"I'm excited to return to the world of open source to deepen our relationships with customers and partners, amplify our voice in the market and drive measurable business impact. "SUSE's market opportunity is massive. As it hits 33 years as a leader in enterprise open source software, I'm bullish about SUSE's future," said Dawson.
Regional appointments
Alongside the appointment of Dawson, SUSE has bolstered its regional go-to-market leadership. The company announced Dongun Lee as the South Korea regional leader, Gen Watanabe for Japan, Kingsley Wood as head of North America solution architecture, and Joao Pereira for the Brazilian public sector. SUSE has also promoted Holger Pfister to Vice President for the DACH region, acknowledging his work in advancing SUSE's European presence at a time when demand for sovereign solutions is increasing.
This series of appointments, according to SUSE, is intended to reinforce the company's focus on meeting local customer requirements and improving customer experience across the global market.
Industry recognition
Margaret Dawson is recognised as an author and speaker on open-source technology, emerging technology trends, and leadership. She has been ranked among the top Women in Cloud Computing and was named Business Role Model of the Year for Women in IT. Additionally, Dawson received the Mentor and Coach of the Year award in the Stevie Business Awards and was included in the Top 50 Women Leaders of Seattle by Women We Admire.
Her advocacy for greater diversity and equality in technology is also noted as a central part of her professional career, including programmes she has led at Fortune 500 companies.
SUSE delivers enterprise open source solutions to large organisations globally, supporting workloads across data centres, cloud infrastructure, and edge computing. The company's focus on regional expansion and marketing aligns with current enterprise trends as organisations seek open source solutions tailored to their local requirements.
