Linux professional services and consulting firm Embedded Alley (EA) announced the appointment of a former MontaVista Software executive as president. Paul Staudacher (pictured) held management positions in business development, channel development, and strategic account development at MontaVista, says EA.

A founding member of Linux distribution and tools company MontaVista Software at its launch in 1999, Staudacher brings 25 years of experience to EA, says the company. At MontaVista, "he was instrumental in shaping the company's open source business model and market strategy," says EA. Previously, Staudacher was said to be the worldwide IP licensing manager for the Microtec division of Mentor Graphics.

EA offers a number of Linux consulting services, including working with customers to develop and maintain their software development kits (SDKs). The firm's Silicon Vendor Partner Program (SVPP) provides customized SDKs that vendors can freely distribute, and includes mainline kernel maintenance and regression testing. Known for its expertise in Linux kernel ports for the PowerPC architecture, EA has been busy acquiring other services firms in recent years. The company maintains development centers in Moscow and St Petersburg, Russia.

Stated Bill Weinberg, principal analyst at LinuxPundit.com, "Embedded Alley boasts a solid roster of Linux kernel and embedded open source expertise. Drafting Staudacher nicely rounds out their line-up."

Stated Pete Popov, CEO of EA, "With his deep embedded industry expertise, Paul is the ideal person to sustain our strong performance into the future, as we augment our services business with off-the-shelf products."


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