Emerson Vice President and Chief Information Officer Stephen C. Hassell Appointed President of New Unit

Emerson Network Power (NYSE:EMR), a business of Emerson and the global leader in enabling Business-Critical Continuity,™ today announced it is combining its Aperture and new Avocent businesses as a new division focused on helping data center customers better manage their infrastructure. This announcement follows the December news that Emerson’s completed its Avocent acquisition.  

The new division is part of Emerson Network Power and is headquartered in Huntsville, Ala. The unit combines Avocent’s management systems division, which offers access and control of the physical aspects of network devices and servers, with Aperture’s powerful infrastructure software for a robust portfolio of data center infrastructure management solutions. Emerson acquired Aperture in February 2008.

The new division will be led by President Stephen C. Hassell, who previously served as Emerson Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO) since 2004. The division will report into Emerson Group Vice President Bob Bauer.

“It is appropriate that we are making this announcement in the first few business days of 2010, as we are ushering in a new era in data center management,” said Hassell. “The market is ripe for an infrastructure management solution capable of enhancing energy and operational efficiency while improving availability. I believe that our combined talents uniquely position us to deliver a one-of-a-kind solution to customers throughout the world.”

Hassell, as CIO, was responsible for Emerson's information technology strategy, including hardware, software, and services, as well as its telecommunications infrastructure. He has first-hand experience in data center design and management, as his team is in the midst of a global consolidation of Emerson’s more than 100 data centers worldwide and recently opened the company’s flagship data center in St. Louis – a $50 million investment that Emerson anticipates will receive LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Hassell came to Emerson from Invensys, where he served as Chief Information Officer. Prior to Invensys, Hassell worked in Northrop Grumman’s Newport News division. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the United States Naval Academy and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy. He also holds a master’s in management from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University.

Tom Waun, president of Aperture, will take on additional responsibility as president of global sales and marketing for the new division, and will join Avocent management team members who will retain their existing roles.

For more information on the Avocent acquisition, Aperture, or any of the products and solutions from Emerson Network Power, visit www.EmersonNetworkPower.com. For more information on Avocent technologies and solutions, please visit www.Avocent.com.