NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Morgan Stanley today announced that it has recognized Zscaler, a cloud-based information security provider, with the CTO Innovation Award at the 17th Morgan Stanley TechWeek and CTO Innovation Summit in Palo Alto, CA. The exclusive annual event brings together key executives from leading tech companies with Morgan Stanley senior technologists for a week of collaboration and exploration of innovative technologies, emerging trends and future product development.

Zscaler received the CTO Innovation Award for its cloud-based security solution designed to protect the rapidly evolving mobile and wireless needs of Morgan Stanley’s financial advisor employee base. Zscaler CEO Jay Chaudhry accepted the award at the Summit’s dinner reception. The annual award honors technology solutions with innovative capabilities that materially transform technology at Morgan Stanley and result in better service for its clients.

“We are thrilled to recognize Zscaler today for their contribution in the cloud-driven information security arena,” said Michael Poser, the Morgan Stanley CIO responsible for Enterprise Infrastructure and Cybersecurity. “Given the increasing complexity and rising threat environment, it’s essential to partner with a service provider that empowers our mobile workforce to conduct their client business knowing they have the right protection in place. Strong industry partnerships with cutting-edge companies like Zscaler are a cornerstone of our technology strategy, allowing us to continuously innovate in a marketplace of rapidly evolving client needs and industry challenges.”

Morgan Stanley was one of the first large financial services firms to recognize the strategic importance of continuous, direct engagement with technology innovators. With the launch of its inaugural CTO Innovation Summit in 2001, the Firm pioneered a structured vendor innovation program that’s been vital to the rapid adoption of emerging technologies. This year’s gathering is the largest since its inception with executives and technologists from more than 150 technology companies in attendance at the invitation-only event. On the agenda are a broad array of technology topics covering the Firm’s key priority areas, ranging from cloud computing, productivity and social, big data and analytics, machine learning, automation, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity to emerging technologies including augmented and virtual reality, gamification and quantum computing.

“There is no one technology or trend that’s going to disrupt the industry, it’s the combination and collaboration of a host of technologies and services,” said Shawn Melamed, Managing Director, Technology Business Development, leading Morgan Stanley’s strategic technology partnerships. “By bringing our best technical minds and executives to the Valley, we have created an opportunity for companies of all maturity stages to explore new ideas with us and define their product roadmaps, jointly building a strong foundation for their own companies’ and for Morgan Stanley’s technology future.”

Over the years, many CTO Innovation Summit participants proceeded to play an important role in Morgan Stanley’s technology strategy, delivering leading-edge features and functionality to the Firm’s world-class technology platform. For example, data analytics company Splunk Inc. evolved from a software provider that organizes log files into a key solution for the Firm’s overall performance management, ensuring stable and reliable operation of the comprehensive ecosystem of business and technology platforms across the franchise. Said Doug Merritt, President and CEO of Splunk Inc.: “Morgan Stanley’s technology expertise and relationships across Silicon Valley have encouraged and improved our ongoing innovation, and they have been strong advocates as we deliver machine learning across the Splunk product portfolio.”

Big data and machine learning provider Cloudera, an Innovation Award winner in 2012, became an integral part of the Firm’s new Wealth Management digital platform, supporting big data analytics that help financial advisors scour extensive data sets to provide their clients with timely, personalized insights for their investment strategy. “Our first meetings at the CTO Summit were truly transformational for our business. Morgan Stanley’s technology experts came to us with a candid and transparent outline of their vision and tech challenges. Their belief in open source was foundational in our partnership, with constant feedback and collaboration ultimately leading to an enterprise-grade product that delivers against the demanding needs of the Firm and other larger enterprise customers,” commented Tom Reilly, CEO of Cloudera. “We look forward to continuing our work together as we think about our future products.”

During the 17-year history of the CTO Innovation Summit, Morgan Stanley has met with more than 800 emerging technology companies, many of which became part of the Firm’s technology ecosystem, an impressive outcome given that Summit presentations usually mark the first in-depth interaction between the Firm’s tech leaders and early-stage companies. Later this year, Morgan Stanley will host another marquee technology event exclusively focused on fintech providers.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in more than 42 countries, the Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For more information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170607005120/en/