ConvergeOne Lands Accenture Canada Boss As New CEO

‘I was drawn to this role for many reasons, but foremost among them are the opportunities I see ahead to modernize and grow the solutions ConvergeOne provides. With a collective focus on innovation, I look forward to helping ConvergeOne customers navigate an increasingly complex business environment and leverage innovation,’ says Jeffrey Russell in his LinkedIn post announcing his new role.

ConvergeOne, a services-led cloud solution provider, has hired Accenture Canada President and CEO Jeffrey Russell to be its new chief executive officer.

Bloomington, Minn.-based ConvergeOne Thursday said that Russell has taken the reins from former CEO John McKenna who is retiring after 14.5 years in the CEO seat. McKenna, however, will remain close to ConvergeOne as an executive director on the company’s board of directors.

ConvergeOne is a major channel powerhouse, ranked No. 35 on CRN’s 2022 Solution Provider 500 list.

[Related: Cloud Solution Provider ConvergeOne Acquires Integration Partners]

ConvergeOne was not able to reply to a CRN request for more information by press time.

Russell is a 25-year Accenture veteran. He started at the company in early 1998 as the managing partner for the company’s Asian supply chain, working out of Melbourne, Australia, and gradually worked his way through various roles in North America and Europe until he became the top executive of Accenture in Canada in early 2019.

Russell earlier this month unveiled his retirement from Accenture Canada in a LinkedIn post where he wrote about his move from Australia to Singapore, New York, London, Miami, and Canada, where he was born.

“Leading the Canadian business has had a great impact on me, both professionally and personally. I will appreciate the significance of this experience for the rest of my life. We achieved incredible business success and we came together as we worked towards gender, racial and human equality – all during a pandemic,” he wrote.

Russell Thursday also used LinkedIn to unveil his move to join ConvergeOne as CEO, describing the company as a services-led technology company with leading edge solutions to help transform customers’ end-to-end experiences including cloud, collaboration, enterprise networking, data center, and cybersecurity to achieve their business outcomes.

“I was drawn to this role for many reasons, but foremost among them are the opportunities I see ahead to modernize and grow the solutions ConvergeOne provides. With a collective focus on innovation, I look forward to helping ConvergeOne customers navigate an increasingly complex business environment and leverage innovation to deliver on how to fundamentally improve the way they provide exceptional experiences to key stakeholders including customers and employees,” he wrote.

ConvergeOne in 2018 was acquired by CVC Capital Partners for $1.8 billion. CVC Capital Partners remains the majority owner of the company.

Lars Haegg, managing partner of Luxembourg-based CVC Capital Partners, welcomed Russell as ConvergeOne’s new CEO in a statement.

“Jeffrey‘s client-service focus and his customer-driven approach to transformation will enable him to lead ConvergeOne into its next chapter. His strong people and client-led values and collaborative, inclusive leadership align closely with ConvergeOne’s purpose-driven culture. And we would also like to thank John for his leadership in successfully scaling ConvergeOne, and we look forward to continuing to benefit from his expertise as a member of the Board,” Haegg said.

ConvergeOne Thursday also said Salvatore Lombardi will be its new CFO. Lombardi is taking over from Jeff Nachbor, who is retiring after nine years as CFO. Lombardi was most recently CFO of cxLoyalty, a global leader in loyalty and engagement programs.