Mark Bregman

Chief Technology Officer, Symantec Corp

The Dilemma of Innovation
27 minutes, 12.7mb, recorded 2006-04-05
Mark Bregman
As we enter the next era of software, market leaders are faced with a dilemma. Early innovators can soon become victims of their own success, bound by the demands of a large customer base. Meanwhile, startups and upstarts gain the edge in the innovation space. In this talk, Mark Bregman shares his insights and Symantec's vision for maintaining leadership while driving innovation to face the challenges of Security 2.0.

The progress of technology is often imagined as a smooth curve, but actually occurs in jumps and starts. The flow of ideas from the labs to the marketplace typically means crossing a chasm of technology transfer. For mature product lines, vendors must coordinate simultaneous global releases and meet a demanding set of expectations around the brand. This makes it difficult to move quickly and stay in tune with trends and new opportunities. One way of jumping this hurdle is to absorb innovations into the product pipeline through acquisitions, but this approach brings organizational risks and the fear that a company's own creative muscles will atrophy. To maintain their edge, companies should foster internal sources of innovative thinking.

How can leaders avoid the trap of innovation? As we enter a new internet era driven by low cost broadband, globalization and a distributed power base, Bregman argues companies must strike a balance between old and new paradigms, continuing to support customers' current needs while scouting and moving nimbly ahead in new directions. To this end, Symantec has developed an Advanced Concepts group which functions like a small start up within the company. With fewer constraints, this group can quickly explore new markets by piloting small projects.

Against this backdrop, the focus of Symantec's business is evolving from the protection of data to the protection of relationships. This places them in a new ecosystem with a mission to promote the confidence and trust of e-business consumers.


Mark Bregman is the chief technology officer of Symantec, responsible for the Symantec Research Labs, emerging technologies, architecture and standards, and developing the technological strategy for the company. He will also guide Symantec’s investments in advanced research and continue to strengthen its patent portfolio. Bregman joined Symantec through the company’s merger with VERITAS Software. At VERITAS, Bregman served as chief technology officer, responsible for cross-product integration, advanced product development, merger and acquisition strategy, and the company's engineering development centers in Pune, India and Beijing, China. He also served as VERITAS’ executive vice president in charge of product operations since joining the company in 2002. Prior to joining VERITAS, Bregman was CEO of Airmedia, a wireless Internet firm.

Previously, Bregman spent 16 years at IBM where he led the RS/6000 and Pervasive Computing divisions and held senior management positions in IBM Research and IBM Japan. He was also technical assistant to IBM CEO Lou Gerstner.

Bregman holds a bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard College and a master's degree and doctorate in physics from Columbia University. He also serves on the Board of Overseers of Fermi National Accelerator Lab. He is a member of the Visiting Committee to the Harvard University Libraries, a member of the American Physical Society, and a senior member of IEEE.

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