After February's announcement that Blue Coat would be acquired by private equity investment firm Thoma Bravo, which both makes Blue Coat a private company and affords it more funding to work with, Murphy's appointment signals a step in a new direction for the company, says Enterprise Management Associates principal research analyst Tracy Corbo.

"This is really the final piece here," Corbo says. "I don't think I personally could have hand-picked someone that's more ideal, if you stop and look at what he brings to the table."

ANALYSIS:

BACKGROUND:

Murphy joins Blue Coat after having served as the senior vice president for HP's LaserJet and Enterprise Solutions business unit, whose two-tier operating structure he says is similar to that of Blue Coat. Beyond that, Corbo says Murphy's operations and financial experience makes him a natural fit for a newly private company with a new source of funding, as does his experience as president and general manager of IBM Tivoli.