CA Shuffles Top Brass

Russ Artzt, formerly CA's executive vice president of eTrust solutions, was named executive vice president for products.

Mark Barrenechea, formerly CA's executive vice president of product development, was named executive vice president of technology strategy and chief technology architect.

The changes were outlined in a letter to CA employees from President and CEO-elect John Swainson. In the letter, Swainson explained that by moving Artzt from brand-oriented duties to an overarching role that manages all CA products, CA takes a step closer to moving from a "brand unit" management structure to a "business unit" one.

Widening Barrenechea's role from product development to that of technology strategy and chief technology architect had a similar effect, according to the letter.

"To help better align and market the company, we will be accelerating CA's evolution from a brand unit structure to a business unit structure. The business unit structure has proven itself an incredibly effective model in this industry and is a natural next step for CA. ETrust is a successful example of what a business unit and its people can do when they control their own development resources and marketing efforts," Swainson wrote.

Citing the recent flurry of industry consolidation, including the Oracle/PeopleSoft deal and the Symantec/Veritas merger, he added that Barrenechea would also assist in driving CA's mergers and acquisitions activity, "identifying potential acquisition candidates, determining if and how technologies align with our product portfolio, and outlining market opportunities."

Barrenechea's position is a new one within CA.

Going forward, all of CA's product development teams will report to Artzt, who will continue to head up the eTrust product line. Artzt will report to Swainson, according to the letter.

Of note, Yogesh Gupta will continue to remain as CTO of the company, CA said.

The changes to CA's leadership come on the heels of broader changes to the vendor's product distribution channels and enterprise partner program.