30 Notable Executive Moves: September 2016

Start It Off

The changing foliage that marks the autumn season could be taken as a metaphor for the wave of executive changes across the IT and solution provider industry in September.

Last month some of the biggest companies like Intel, Verizon Communications and Avnet appointed new high-level executives. Others, including Accenture and CTG, appointed executives to new positions to lead initiatives around emerging technologies like cybersecurity and healthcare. And in some cases solution providers and IT vendors lost long-time executives to competitors.

Here's a look at 30 of the biggest executive changes that occurred in September.

Bill Amelio

Distributor Avnet named interim CEO and former Lenovo executive Bill Amelio as its permanent CEO as the company looks to boost shareholder returns and accelerate adoption of emerging technologies.

Amelio was named interim CEO on July 11 after Rick Amada stepped down after five years as the company's CEO. A spokeswoman said at the time that Avnet's board believed a leadership change was needed to accelerate growth, drive a greater sense of urgency and enhance the company's focus on execution.

Amelio served as CEO of international oil-field services company CHC Group Ltd. from 2010 to 2015, president and CEO of Beijing-based Lenovo from 2005 to 2009, and president of Asia-Pacific and Japan for Dell from 2001 to 2005.

Bob Swan

Intel appointed Bob Swan as the company's new CFO to oversee the chipmaker's global finance and IT organizations, as well as the company's Corporate Strategy Office.

Swan replaced Stacy Smith, who the company said in April would take a broader role in Intel to spearhead manufacturing, sales and operations.

Swan was most recently an operating partner at growth equity firm General Atlantic, where he worked with the company's global portfolio on growth objectives. Prior to that, Swan held executive positions at companies including eBay, Electronic Data Systems and General Electric.

Gregg Ambulos

On the heels of its blockbuster EMC acquisition, Dell Technologies named Gregg Ambulos to be the company's North American channel chief – part of a new leadership roster under global channel chief John Byrne.

Ambulos, who was EMC's channel chief prior to the acquisition, reports to Byrne.

Cheryl Cook, who was Dell's channel chief before the EMC acquisition, will lead the company's global channel marketing efforts, reporting to marketing senior vice president Nina Hargus.

Mary McDowell

Videoconferencing and collaboration technology vendor Polycom named Mary McDowell as its new CEO, effective with the acquisition of the company by Siris Capital Group.

McDowell was an executive partner at the New York-based private equity firm. Previously she held executive titles at Nokia between 2004 and 2012, and at Compaq Computer and Hewlett-Packard before that.

McDowell is taking over from former CEO Peter Leav, who is stepping down once the Siris acquisition closes.

Ashar Aziz

FireEye founder and technical visionary Ashar Aziz resigned from the security vendor's board of directors, a move the company disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Sept. 7.

Aziz had been on FireEye's board since 2004 when he founded the company and was recognized as the technical visionary behind the company's security technology.

FireEye said Aziz's resignation was a personal decision based on his desire to spend more time with his family and to pursue new projects – including one related to distributing solar energy.

Sophie V. Vandebroek

Sophie Vandebroek announced that she would retire as chief technology officer at Xerox, after working at the company for 25 years and serving as CTO for 10.

Vandebroek will retire at the end of this year when Xerox is scheduled to split into two companies.

"While it is bittersweet to be leaving this wonderful organization that has brought me so much happiness for 25 years, I am looking forward to explor[ing] new challenges for the next couple decades of my professional life," Vandebroek wrote on her Facebook page.

Fran Shammo

Verizon Communications chief financial officer Fran Shammo is retiring at the end of 2016 after working at the telecommunications company for 27 years.

The company said that Matthew Ellis, a senior vice president and CFO of operations finance for Verizon's wireless and wireline division, would take over Shammo's post effective Nov. 1.

During his 27-year tenure with Verizon, Shammo was instrumental in the carrier's network investment strategy, the company said. He also helped position Verizon for growth in mobile video and the Internet of Things by helping secure the carrier's recent acquisitions, including AOL, Fleetmatics, and Yahoo, according to the Basking Ridge, N.J.-based carrier.

Qi Lu

After eight years with Microsoft, Qi Lu, the head executive for the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant's Applications and Services Group, resigned late last month, citing his need to recuperate from a serious bicycle accident he was involved in several months before.

Lu joined Microsoft in 2008 from Yahoo where he managed the software company's online services. As executive vice president of Microsoft's Applications and Services Group, Lu was responsible for development of Microsoft Office and Office 365, the Bing search engine, MSN and other products.

Gus Hunt

Accenture hired former CIA chief technology officer Ira "Gus" Hunt as the head of its Federal Services' (AFS) cybersecurity practice, bolstering the company's understanding of the federal cybersecurity space.

After a 28-year career with the CIA, Hunt retired from the agency as CTO in 2013, and has since served as chief architect for the Westport, Conn.-based hedge fund Bridgewater Associates and as CEO of his own private security consulting practice, Hunt Technology LLC.

In his new position as head of the Arlington, Va.-based AFS cybersecurity practice, Hunt will be in charge of providing federal government clients with data-centric security technologies, as well as both operational and strategic consulting. He will also assist government agencies transitioning to cloud computing.

Eric Martorano

Eric Martorano, a key channel executive at Microsoft for eight years, left the software giant to take a position as senior vice president of worldwide sales for Intermedia, one of Microsoft's largest cloud service partners.

Martorano's move was effective Sept. 15.

At Microsoft Martorano, who held the title U.S. Partner sales general manager, was responsible for $17 billion in commercial sales. He was credited with launching Microsoft's successful Cloud Champions program.

Gordon Coburn

After working at Cognizant for two decades, Gordon Coburn announced that he would resign as president of the Teaneck, N.J.-based company, No. 7 on the CRN Solution Provider 500.

The company named IT Services division CEO Rajeev Mehta as Coburn's replacement.

Coburn's resignation came as Cognizant disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it had launched an internal probe into whether certain payments relating to facilities in India were made improperly, possibly violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or other laws. Cognizant did not say whether there was any connection between Coburn's resignation and the probe.

For stepping up to fill the vacant spot left by Coburn, Mehta's base salary will increase from $538,500 to $650,000, Cognizant said in an SEC filing.

David Powell

David Powell, a channel thought leader who helped lay the groundwork for recurring revenue sales growth at one of the top managed service providers in the country, took a new job at LogicMonitor aimed at leading the company to a new era of "application-centric" and business outcome services sales growth.

Powell, a key player in helping drive the astronomical growth in cloud and managed services sales at TekLinks, was named general manager of the service provider business at LogicMonitor, maker of a highly regarded SaaS-based performance monitoring system for "modern IT infrastructure."

Scott Davis

Cloud automation company Embotics hired former VMWare CTO Scott Davis as its new CTO in September, aiming to bolster the company's technology and product strategy for its hybrid cloud automation product, vCommander.

In his new position Davis will also head up the Office of the CTO at the Ottawa, Ont.-based company, an advanced technology team chartered with accelerating value through new technology innovation.

"I can't imagine a better fit for our team than Scott,’ said Michael Torto, Embotics CEO, in a statement. "He is a creative, intelligent problem solver who will shine as a key member of our executive team. Everything we do at Embotics is in service of making our customers' experience the best in the industry, and Scott brings the right kind of experience, knowledge and leadership to help us continue to deliver on that promise."

Jon Bove

Security technology developer Proofpoint hired former Fortinet channel executive Jon Bove as its new North American channel chief. The move comes as Proofpoint looks to expand its channel push with regional reseller partners.

Bove joined Proofpoint as senior director of North America channels, reporting to Vice President of Worldwide Channels Dee Dee Phelps Acquista. At Fortinet he was regional vice president of US channels.

Nick Schneider

Nick Schneider joined Arctic Wolf Networks as the security startup's first head of worldwide sales. His hiring comes as Arctic Wolf, which launched earlier this year, looks to expand its channel sales with a new partner program.

Schneider moved to Arctic Wolf from Code42 where he was vice president of North America sales. Prior to that he held a variety of channel and business leadership roles at Compellent, which Dell acquired in 2011.

Mitesh Patel and Tom Marek

SADA Systems, No. 342 on the 2016 CRN 2016 Solution Provider 500 list, hired a pair of executives from Neudesic in a move to bolster the cloud computing service provider's Microsoft practice.

Mitesh Patel was hired as the company's first-ever vice president of consulting services, a position that puts Patel in charge of leading service delivery for SADA's Microsoft practice. Patel spent six years as a director-level executive at Neudesic, No. 225 on the 2016 CRN SP500 list.

Patel said his experience at Neudesic, along with the rest of his 22 years in sales and account management, would help him grow SADA Systems' Microsoft practice. He plans to increase SADA's average deal size to enterprise-level scale and increase the company's Microsoft-related staff headcount by 50 percent, adding 20 to 30 more people in his first year.

SADA Systems also brought on Tom Marek as the company's new enterprise solutions team director, continuing the push SADA is making in its Microsoft business. At Neudesic Marek held a number of positions, most recently senior solution partner.

Angela Rivera and Robert Barras

Computer Technology Group (CTG), No. 65 on the CRN Solution Provider 500 list, appointed two vice presidents last month, marking a push CTG is making in its Health Solutions business. Angela Rivera and Robert Barras, two healthcare industry veterans, were appointed to their new posts in September.

Rivera brings more than 23 years of healthcare experience to her position, including a 16-year tenure at Buffalo-based CTG. In her new position she will have executive responsibility for solutions and growth strategy, quality service delivery and management of CTG's professional consulting base.

Barras, with CTG since 2009, brings over 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry to his new role, which puts him at the head of a team of business development partners charged with continuing the organization's record of sales success to develop collaborative client relationships, continuing to grow CTG's sales territories and help the company's healthcare clients with IT solutions and services.

Ben Levitan

Metalogix Software hired IT industry veteran Ben Levitan as CEO, taking over from Abe Peled who stepped down in September to become executive chairman of the Metalogix board's operating committee.

Levitan has a technology leadership career extending over 25 years with leading companies including IMN (now Reynolds & Reynolds), EnvoyWorldWide, Inc. (now Nuance Communications), Viand Corporation, In-Q-Tel, James Martin + Company and Cambridge Technology Partners.

Washington D.C.-based Metalogix also announced that John Duvall joined the company as Chief Financial Officer.

Matt Mills

Hadoop software developer MapR Technologies appointed Matt Mills, the company's chief operating officer, to CEO in September he replaced the company's founder, John Schroeder, who was named executive chairman of the company's board.

Mills will partner with Schroeder on product vision and strategy, investor relations, and industry and customer relationships. Schroeder will remain involved fulltime with the company in his new position.

"It was very important for us to bring on a leader who shares the MapR vision for creating the next big platform for business, while maintaining our goal of building a company that will last," said Schroeder in a statement. "We found that leader in Matt. We share the same values and developed an incredible partnership. I look forward to continuing it in our new roles."

Jonathan White

Solution provider and Microsoft partner NetEnrich named channel veteran Jonathan White as the company's channel marketing and sales vice president last month.

White brings more than 20 years of channel marketing and management experience to NetEnrich, most recently as director of SMB channel marketing at Trend Micro where he grew managed service provider (MSP) revenue by 25 percent, according to a statement from San Jose, Calif.-based NetEnrich.

White previously spent 12 years at Microsoft working in various field and channel marketing roles across that company's mobile, business applications and cloud technology portfolio. As global channel marketing lead at Microsoft he helped grow cloud pipeline opportunities within the SMB market, NetEnrich said.

Chris Lee

San Francisco-based cloud ERP provider FinancialForce hired DocuSign and Salesforce veteran Chris Lee to the position of vice president of strategic sales to help the cloud application company accelerate enterprise sales and global growth.

In his new position Lee is responsible for heading up the company's Enterprise and General Business sales groups and for nurturing a sales culture that's focused on successful customer relationships, according to a statement from the company.

Lee brings more than 20 years of enterprise Software-as-a-Service experience to the position, most recently as the vice president and general manager of DocuSign's North American business. Before that he held positions at Salesforce and Siebel Systems. FinancialForce expects the customer and partner relationships Lee brings with him from his previous roles to have an immediate positive impact on the business.

Tony Craythorne

Unified storage systems company Nexsan named Tony Craythorne to the position of senior vice president of sales where he will be responsible for driving sales growth, market expansion, and channel partnerships for Nexsan worldwide. He reports directly to CEO Robert Fernander.

Craythorne's hiring comes closely on the heels of the company's launch of its UNITY product, an enterprise-class storage platform, last quarter. Nexsan said the Campbell, Calif.-based company is experiencing tremendous demand and Craythorne's leadership will be critical in maximizing opportunity.

Craythorne joins Nexsan from NexGen Storage where he was senior vice president of worldwide sales and helped lead that company through its spin-off from SanDisk and acquisition by Pivot3. He previously worked at Brocade, Hitachi data Systems, Bell Micro and Connected Data.

Robinder Koura

Enterprise cloud communications vendor RingCentral named Robinder Koura as head of channel sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) geographies.

In the new position Koura will be responsible for the expansion of the London-based company's partner program in those regions where RingCentral continues to build out its channel operations.

Koura brings over two decades of experience in the IT space to his new position, most recently as the vice president of channel sales in the EMEA region for communications software vendor Genband. For the last decade his focus has been on helping partners and master agents make the transition to selling cloud-based solutions and executing marketing campaigns across EMEA.

Robert Kocis

Robert Kocis was hired in September by managed services platform vendor Continuum to fill the newly-created position of chief revenue officer with the goal of furthering the company's international expansion and accelerating partner success initiatives. The 20-year sales and channel veteran previously served as vice president, worldwide sales and customer excellence for computer software developer ANSYS.

"This new CRO position will further drive integration and alignment between all channel-facing functions as we invest more resources into activities that enable our partners' growth and ensure we have the right initiatives in place to drive our international expansion. Robert Kocis is recognized as one of the most effective channel sales and customer success leaders with extensive international experience. We are excited to have someone of Robert's experience join our team," said Continuum CEO Michael George in a statement.

Alan DiPietro

Data management platform developer Bedrock Data expanded its executive team in September by naming Alan DiPietro as the company's new chief revenue officer to help accelerate the Boston-based company's growth.

DiPietro brings over two decades of sales experience to the CRO post, according to a Bedrock statement, and has a proven record in leading early-stage startup sales organizations, from product launch to IPO and/or acquisition. He previously held management positions at Infinio Systems, VKernel, Interliant and MapInfo.

The company also appointed Zak Pines as the vice president of marketing. He joins Bedrock Data from Ipswitch where he was senior director of marketing. Prior to Ipswitch, Pines held marketing technology positions with Avitage and LiveTechnology.

Todd Krysiewicz

OnX Enterprise Solutions, No. 46 on the CRN SP500 list, hired veteran tech executive Todd Krysiewicz as its new senior vice president, North American services sales. In the position Krysiewicz will focus on developing OnX's managed service offerings, continuing the ongoing alignment of the Toronto company's continuum of services.

Krysiewicz was hired by OnX CEO Tom Signorello, who took office in August.

Krysiewicz moved to OnX from Avaya, where he was vice president of global sales – strategic services. Before that he served as global vice president at Unisys Corp., vice president of Xerox services, and held several leadership roles at Computer Sciences Corp.

"This is an exciting time to join OnX," Krysiewicz said in a statement. "It's a growing, dynamic company and I look forward to strengthening our continuum of professional and managed services offerings to ensure we meet our clients' needs, regardless of how they choose to consume technology."

Robert Triendl

Big data storage supplier DataDirect Networks promoted Robert Triendl, the general manager of DDN's Japanese business, to the position of senior vice president of global sales, marketing and field services.

Trendl, currently based in Tokyo, will be responsible for the Chatsworth, Calif.-based company's global sales, marketing, product marketing and management, field services and support functions. He is tasked with accelerating DDN's global market expansion and growth.

"Having successfully built and led teams across various parts of the world, including Europe, Asia-Pacific and Japan, Robert is a demonstrated strategic leader with deep technical know-how, an uncompromising focus on customer satisfaction, and a keen ability to anticipate market changes,’ said Alex Bouzari, DDN co-founder and CEO, in a statement.

Patrick Anderson

Solution provider Opsgility hired Patrick Anderson as the company's chief sales officer where he will be tasked with overseeing the company's entire technical sales staff.

Anderson comes to Opsgility from Microsoft where he most recently served as sales director for Microsoft's south central district U.S. enterprise solution sales.

Prior to Microsoft, Anderson led a number of key initiatives and strategies at other companies including Pier 1 Imports and AST. He also serves as a computer science executive board member for Texas Christian University and a board member for Boys and Girls Club of Greater Fort Worth.

Andrew Warren

Tarrytown, N.Y.-based IT distributor Westcon-Comstor promoted former vice president Andrew Warren to the role of executive vice president for its North American business. In the position, Warren will be responsible for driving the company's U.S. and Canadian operations and is the newest member of the company's executive leadership team.

Over the past several months Warren assumed leadership responsibility for Comstor U.S., the Cisco Systems solutions division of the company.

Warren began his career with Westcon in 2010 in the distributor's cyber security solutions business. Under Warren's direction, according to Westcon, the security solutions practice grew from $275 million to more than $1 billion in sales and today represents more than half of Westcon-Comstor's North American business.

Westcon hired IT veteran Carol Giles Neslund to succeed Warren, as vice president and general manager of the fast-growing Westcon-Comstor Security Solutions Practice.

Mike Keating and Jack Marshall

Security software company Contrast Security bolstered its leadership team in September by adding two new executives to lead its sales and customer cybersecurity organizations.

Former Symantec executive Mike Keating is charged with heading Contrast's sales division, while former AlienVault vice president Jack Marshall has been placed in charge of the company's customer success organization. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Contrast hired the two new executives to help manage its rapid market growth, including adding global customers and expanding its application security product line.

At Symantec, Keating ran the vendor's North America west region field and inside sales organizations. Before that he held sales posts at Nortel, Bay Networks and Data Comm Networking. Marshall joins after working with several successful startups, including working as AlienVault's vice president of customer success and leading customer success efforts for Fortify Software, a company he remained with following its acquisition by Hewlett-Packard in 2010.