Former MontaVista VP of Marketing Kelly Herrell has been named CEO of Vyatta, a startup building open source router and firewall software for the SMB (small-medium business) market. Herrell will work closely with Vyatta Founder Allen Leinwand, who remains as chairman, the company says.

Vyatta was named for a Sanskrit word meaning “open.” Its primary product, currently beta testing as a free (with registration) version 0.7 download, is called OFR (open flexible router). OFR is based on another open source project, the BSD-licensed Xorp platform for IP router experimentation, applications, and products.

Vyatta calls ORF a “secure alternative to incumbent, closed-source solutions.” It says it has cultivated a community of users and developers around the project.

Herrell stated, “Over the past decade, proprietary networking products have stagnated. During the same period, open networking components such as Linux and others have blossomed. These conditions make the networking industry ripe for disruption by open source-based products.”

He adds, “I look forward to helping to positively affect the future of the networking industry by offering a flexible, highly functional, and open alternative.”

Leinwand stated, “Kelly has a rare combination of open-source and networking experience, along with an entrepreneurial spirit.”

Herrell joined MontaVista in the Spring of 2004, helping the embedded software company define a new strategic focus on telecommunications, Vyatta says. Many expected Herrell to succeed MontaVista founder Jim Ready as CEO; however, Herrell left MontaVista in January.

Prior to joining MontaVista, Herrell served as VP of marketing for Cobalt Networks, where he helped engineer the company's $2.3B merger with Sun Microsystems.

MontaVista earlier this month named Tom Kelly CEO.

 
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