CA's Interim CEO Not Seeking Post

Cron said the company has formed a search committee to find a new CEO to replace Sanjay Kumar, who was removed from the post in an April 26 management shake-up and appointed to the position of chief software architect.

Cron, a CA board member and former president of CMP Media, which publishes CRN, stepped in as acting CEO after the reorganization.

"I am not a candidate for the full CEO position," Cron said Friday.

Cron did not give a timetable for selecting a new CEO and indicated the company would take however long it needed to find the ideal candidate. "There is no crisis to do it quickly," he said.

"Sanjay pioneered the new business model. As our [chief software architect], we think Sanjay has knowledge of CA and of the marketplace that continues to help the company," Cron said. "The fact that Sanjay remains with the company in that role acknowledges that value."

Cron also re-emphasized Islandia, N.Y.-based CA's commitment to building channel relationships and growing its indirect sales model.

Security, storage, management and other arenas outside the traditional realm of PC and server hardware will be the focus of the next generation of buying activity, Cron said. CA plans to take advantage of that by increasing its partnering in the channel and expanding its presence in the small- and midsize-business sector, he added.

"Traditional IT products have been absorbed, and the next generation of buying activity has begun," Cron said.

Jeff Clarke, CA's COO, echoed Cron's comments and said the area where the company was increasing expenses the fastest was building its channel sales.

"It's a new day for CA in the channel," Clarke said. "CA has traditionally been a direct seller. But not having a channel is why Dell is still stuck in the PC and server space. We do well selling direct to large enterprises, but our strategy is to broaden out into the channel."