John Zangardi, former chief information officer at the Department of Homeland Security and current president of Redhorse Corp., has joined the board of directors of cloud technology provider Qualys, the company announced Tuesday.
He has extensive experience in digital transformation and implemented a hybrid multicloud strategy across government agencies such as the DHS and the Department of Defense, Qualys said Tuesday.
"John is well respected for his success in transforming the infrastructure of both the DHS and the DOD as well as modernizing their cybersecurity operations," said Philippe Courtot, chairman and CEO of Qualys. "We are honored to welcome him to our board of directors and gain his valuable insight and guidance as we continue to expand our cloud platform to deliver innovative security and compliance offerings."
"Whether you are protecting a nation, a multinational company or your hometown bank, the security of your infrastructure is the priority," Zangardi said. "I look forward to working with Qualys to further its powerful unifying cloud platform, which provides an unprecedented, always up-to-date Global IT Asset Inventory for corporations and agencies along with real-time identification and prioritization of vulnerability across the entire attack surface.”
Zangardi previously worked at Leidos (NYSE: LDOS) as a senior vice president and was responsible for the execution of emerging technology and innovation pipelines with a focus on strategic areas such as digital transformation, mission software, security products/services and logistics.
Prior to Leidos, he was the DHS CIO and supervised end-to-end information technology, network security, and spectrum for a 265 thousand personnel organization. He also worked to develop strategy for the consolidation of the Cybersecurity Operations Center.
In his roles as the Pentagon's principal deputy CIO and acting CIO, Zangardi led IT, cybersecurity, satellite telecommunications and spectrum utilization efforts. He also supervised the development effort to secure navigation and timing programs and implemented cyber hygiene strategy.
He also served as the deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy for command, control, communications, computer systems, intelligence, information operations and space, and the acting Department of Navy CIO.
In that capacity, he was responsible for IT, business systems, meteorological and oceanographic systems, and space acquisition efforts to ensure alignment between Navy and Marine Corp requirements. Zangardi also developed acquisition strategies for 800 thousand user global networks, saving $250 million annually.
Zangardi holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from University of Scranton, a master's degree in finance from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Ph.D. in public policy from George Mason University.
“Qualys is committed to delivering innovative cloud-based IT, security and compliance solutions to help both the public and private sector protect against a constantly changing threat landscape. I am eager to be a part of such an important endeavor," Zangardi added.
