Kevin Kennedy joins Avaya as President and Chief Executive Officer

Kevin Kennedy has assumed the positions of president and CEO.  He joins from JDS Uniphase Corporation, where he was CEO.

Kennedy has also served as Chief Operating Officer of Openwave Systems, Inc.  He spent eight years at Cisco Systems, Inc., most recently as Senior Vice President of the Service Provider Line of Business and Software Technologies Division.  Kennedy spent 17 years with AT&T Bell Laboratories.  In 1987, he was a congressional fellow to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

“Avaya has a proven record of enabling enterprises to gain a marketplace advantage through the strategic use of communications,” said Kevin Kennedy, president and CEO, Avaya.  “I look forward to leading our employees and working with our business partners to deliver the communications capabilities enterprises rely on to grow revenue, strengthen their ties to customers and enhance employee productivity.”

Kennedy is a member of the board of directors of KLA-Tencor Corporation and JDS Uniphase Corporation, and a member of the Board of Regents of Loyola Marymount University.

Also as announced, Charles Giancarlo, previously Avaya’s president and CEO, becomes chairman of Avaya’s board of directors.