Symantec poaches senior Cisco VP Sheila Jordan for CIO role

Symantec has announced that Sheila Jordan (pictured left) will be joining the company as its new chief information officer (CIO), having been poached from network giant Cisco.
Jordan had previously worked as senior vice president of Communication and Collaboration IT at Cisco for nine years, and will officially join Symantec on 18 February
She will be tasked to create and implement the company's IT strategy and operations and Symantec said this will include a particular focus on building and supporting the company's global IT project. She will report to Symantec chief operating officer, Stephen Gillett.
Gillet welcomed Jordan to the team, promising that she would help drive forward the company's ongoing strategy shift.
"Sheila is a dynamic leader with the experience to build and lead the Symantec IT strategy," said Gillett. "She will drive the strategy forward by ensuring we have the right talent, staying ahead of technology trends and maximising the value we get out of our technology investments," he said.
Jordan said she plans to use her experience at Cisco to continue Symantec's technology and productivity initiatives.
She said: "I am thrilled to help advance Symantec's 4.0 strategy and leverage my experience integrating systems to bolster best-in-class information infrastructure. My goal is to drive increased productivity, better efficiency and strategic business partnerships through simple and intuitive experiences for our global workforce."
Outside of her role, Jordan is a regular conference speaker. She has focused on issues surrounding the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and women's leadership movements.
Jordan's entry into the company comes at a turbulent time for Symantec, as the firm goes through a strategy shift, and several prominent members of the company's upper leadership have left over the past three years.
Symantec chief executive Enrique Salem stepped down from his role at the firm after the board of directors ruled that his removal would be in the company's "best interests" in July 2012.
Chief technology officer Greg Day left months later in 2013, to join advanced threat protection specialist FireEye. Symantec has also laid off general staff as a part of the shift, confirming plans to lay off 1,700 employees in June 2013.
The strategy shift has also seen Symantec mount several bold new technology initiatives. Symantec pledged to create a centralised, cross-industry, cyber attack information-sharing big data hub at the RSA Conference in Amsterdam in October 2013.
Jordan is one of many security executives to support the women's leadership movement. Symantec security strategist Sian John called for the UK government to fix the gender gap in ICT education, during an interview with V3 in March 2013.