Douglas Merrill named Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Equinix

Equinix has appointed Douglas Merrill as its CISO, where he will oversee global information security operations, risk management, and security platforms. He previously served as interim CISO at Equinix for six months, and has also held roles as partner at McKinsey and Chief Information Officer at Google.

According to the company's release, the appointment was effective immediately, and Merrill reports to Harmeen Mehta, the Chief Digital and Innovation Officer and an Executive Vice President. The release says Merrill will lead Equinix's global security organization, including the engineering and development of foundational security controls, processes and services. Harmeen Mehta said that protecting Equinix and its customers is a key responsibility of the Digital & Innovation Organization.

According to the release, Merrill as interim CISO led a redesign of the company's global security organization and introduced a strategic framework to integrate security into services, products and platforms from the outset. Equinix says Merrill has more than 30 years of experience helping organizations modernize their technology and transform it into an enabler of growth.

At McKinsey, the release says, Merrill worked closely with clients on end-to-end, tech-enabled transformations focused on data, operations, architecture, IT infrastructure and overall technology strategy. As Chief Information Officer at Google, Merrill helped shape technology strategy there, according to the release. The release says Merrill holds a master's degree and a doctoral degree in cognitive science, both from Princeton University. According to the company, Merrill is a published author and holds patents in machine learning applications.

According to the company, Equinix connects communities, organizations, countries and economies.