Message Systems Appoints Alec Peterson as Chief Technology Officer

Message Systems, a provider of messaging technology solutions, has appointed Alec Peterson as chief technology officer (CTO). In this role, Peterson will be charged with leading the overall direction of technology development for the company. He has been with Message Systems for six years, most recently as the vice president of the technical services group, where he was responsible for the delivery of all client-facing technical services.

Peterson will leverage more than 15 years of network engineering and design experience to advance the Message Systems technology vision for integrated, high-performance messaging that enables businesses to effectively reach their customers through whatever channel is most appropriate – e-mail, SMS/MMS text and more. Under his leadership, the CTO office will have responsibility over technical support, professional services and engineering. Peterson will also play a critical role in understanding the evolving needs of the Message Systems client base, and will work closely with the firm’s development teams to design and deliver the technology solutions that best suit the demands of the cross-channel marketing space.

“Alec has met every challenge we’ve set before him here at Message Systems, and I’m excited he’s taking on the responsibility for driving the company’s technology vision as our new chief technology officer,” said George Schlossnagle, CEO, Message Systems. “As head of professional services, Alec has helped many of our clients implement innovative message-driven workflows and automated transactional messaging processes that take full advantage of our solutions’ most advanced capabilities. I have no doubt that the increased alignment we will see from bringing support, pro services and engineering together under an independent CTO office will help Message Systems continue to accelerate its strong growth into new markets.”

Since joining Message Systems, Peterson has held positions as director of product development, director of technical services, and vice president of technical services worldwide. Most recently he has lead the company’s expansion of technical and professional services to serve a growing global client base, especially in the APAC and EMEA regions. Peterson has written extensively on Web services and messaging technology topics, such as IPv6 reputation, and is a frequent speaker at industry events.

Prior to joining the company, Peterson served as the co-founder and CTO of Catbird Networks, where he successfully designed, implemented and operated a variety of solutions, including security and performance monitoring technology. His career includes positions at companies with a focus on security, managed services and networking, including: co-founder and director of network engineering, UltraDNS Corp.; manager of IP backbone network design, Erol’s Internet/RCN; and network architect, Panix Public Access Networks.

“Having been at Message Systems for nearly six years, I have been fortunate to work with our entire client base and gain insight into the business and technical challenges they face,” Peterson said. “Taking on the responsibilities of chief technology officer means that I’ll now be more readily able to help our clients solve these challenges through our world-class messaging solutions. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to the development of our message management platform and ensure it continues to meet the current and future needs of all of our clients.”

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