(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Earlier this month, cloud and web hosting provider Rackspace Hosting appointed Suaad Sait in the company’s newly created position of chief marketing office r. Suaad is a technology marketing veteran of more than 20 years, serving in various marketing roles at Reachforce, Pervasive, Ventix, Liaison Technology and DAZEL. He will oversee Rackspace’s global marketing efforts as the company continues to offer its wide range of managed hosting and cloud computing solutions, backed by its “Fanatical Support” customer service. In an email interview with the WHIR, Suaad discussed what he will bring to his new role, as well as Rackspace’s overall marketing strategy. WHIR: I understand that this is a newly created role for Rackspace; what is it about the current position of the company that has led to the decision to create a chief marketing officer role? Suaad Sait: Rackspace is a leading provider of Cloud Hosting, the hottest growth market in the industry. Our Fanatical Support is a highly defensible competitive differentiator. In fact, it is the key ingredient for businesses to really trust cloud technology. Our Open approach enables explosive innovation in the Cloud market. It is now time to get out and tell the story to a broader audience. WHIR: What, in your opinion, are some of the strengths and weaknesses of Rackspace’s marketing strategy? SS: One of Rackspace’s key strengths is that our focused and targeted marketing at very specific segments of the market, tight aperture. One of our challenges that few directly outside the focused targets know of Rackspace.  The addressable Cloud market is much broader and growing every day. WHIR: Can you discuss the details of some of Rackspace’s key strategic moves you have planned for 2012? SS: We will have more information in the coming weeks and months. WHIR: Are there any specific experiences and skills that you’ve gained in your past positions that you feel will help in this new role? SS: My experiences range from Xerox where I was part of the invention of the digital printing press industry, it was a revolution. I have startup experiences helping creating new market categories and will leverage both of those along with Rackspace’s incredible proof points of 160,000 plus customers. Those customer proof points provide Rackspace with an incredible story to tell the world in the words of our customers. WHIR: While cloud computing is certainly on the rise, the average consumer is still relatively unknowledgeable about what it is and how it works. What are the biggest challenges for Rackspace in terms of marketing cloud infrastructure solutions to these consumers? SS: Our target market is not the consumer. We are focused on software developers, IT departments, marketing teams — all the people on the planet designing, building and deploying cloud applications. Rackspace is the power behind their successes. We do what we do so companies like Crocs, Mazda, Six Flags and Under Armor can do what they do best for their own industry.