Veritas Software Names New CFO

Veritas Software Corp., a maker of computer data-storage software, named Edwin Gillis as chief financial officer. His predecessor admitted lying about a master’s degree and quit last month.

Gillis, 53, was CFO at Parametric Technology Corp. since 1995 and held the same title at Lotus Development Corp. A certified public accountant, he worked 15 years at Coopers & Lybrand, where he managed the firm’s software industry group.

The new finance chief replaces Kenneth Lonchar, who resigned Oct. 3 after telling Veritas that he had lied about having a master’s degree in business administration from Stanford University. He later quit as a director of Fort Lauderdale-based software maker Citrix Systems Inc.

Veritas and competitors such as EMC Corp. face slow demand as companies cut computer-related budgets. Veritas Chief Executive Gary Bloom said last month that he didn’t expect spending to increase until the second half of next year.

Shares of Mountain View, Calif.-based Veritas rose 82 cents to $16.77 on Nasdaq. They have fallen 63% this year.