ZAANDAM, THE NETHERLANDS (June 26, 2007) — WoodWing Software has named publishing industry veteran Hans Janssen to the position of CEO effective Aug. 1, as the company expands its board to meet the demands of a rapidly growing customer base.
“With the tremendous growth we’ve been experiencing, this is going to allow us to continue to provide outstanding service to our customers, while at the same time continuing to further develop our product line to meet future challenges,” said Erik Schut, President of WoodWing Software. “We have some very ambitious growth objectives, and this will help us achieve them. The new board lineup will allow me to concentrate on product development and technology, while Hans focuses on business development.”
In addition, Ruud Rijbroek, one of the founders of WoodWing, has been named Chairman of the Board.
“As we continue to expand into new markets, Hans’ and Ruud’s experience are going to be invaluable for us,” Schut said. “Hans has an extensive knowledge of all aspects of the newspaper industry and IT, and that’s going to allow us to continue our expansion around the world. He’s going to be a great addition to our team.”
Janssen is no stranger to WoodWing, having been involved with the company since its inception. He helped found the company along with Schut and several other technology experts who had been working together at Mediasystemen in the 1990s.
For the past several years, Janssen has been working as Director of IT for Telegraaf Media Groep. Seeing the growth at WoodWing, though, he decided to become more actively involved with the day-to-day operations of the company he helped create.
“I’ve been very impressed with the way in which WoodWing has become one of the leading players in the publishing technology industry,” Janssen said. “This is one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the country, and I’m looking forward to joining the staff. I can’t wait to get started.”
Janssen brings to the new position an extensive resume, with more than 20 years of experience in the industry, both on the technical and business end. He holds a degree in computer science and business accounting, and began his career in the 1980s developing leading-edge graphical page design systems for newspapers. He later began to develop enterprise systems for advertising, and by the late 1990s, Janssen had become the technical director for Mediasystemen, responsible for research and development and implementations.
During the Internet boom beginning 2000, he also created two start-up companies that handled regional news content. He joined Telegraaf Media Groep in 2001, and took charge of developing the IT strategy for the publishing group. For the past four years, he's been the managing director of Telegraaf Media ICT, the internal IT supplier for Telegraaf Media Groep.
