Avaya CFO Exits, Replacement Named

Anthony Massetti, who's been Avaya's CFO since 2009, will exit the company, Avaya said Wednesday. Joining Avaya as its new CFO and senior vice president is Dave Vellequette, who is now part of Avaya's Executive Council and reports to Avaya CEO Kevin Kennedy.

Vellequette was most recently CFO at JDS Uniphase Corp., a role he'd had since 2005. He and Kennedy have worked together closely for much of their respective careers; Kennedy was CEO of JDSU from 2003 to 2008, when he left to take the top job at Avaya, and both men also worked at Openwave and Cisco. Vellequette's 10 years at Cisco, from 1992 to 2002, included stints as corporate controller of Cisco-acquired StrataCom and as vice president of finance for Cisco's service provider business.

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"Dave's deep financial expertise and track record of success make him an excellent addition to Avaya’s senior leadership team," Kennedy said in a statement. "As Avaya continues to focus on serving our customers and maintaining industry leadership with compelling business collaboration and communications solutions, Dave’s experience in diverse technology companies will be a significant asset in advancing our strategy."

Avaya did not provide a reason for the CFO change, but the company's financial picture remains disquieting. In a Form 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Avaya for its third fiscal quarter reported revenue of $1.25 billion, down roughly 9 percent from $1.37 billion a year earlier. Its net loss for the quarter was $166 million, compared to a $152 million loss in the year-earlier quarter. Avaya's net loss for the nine-month period ending June 30 was $354 million, improved from the previous year's period of $764 million lost.

Avaya filed Form S-1 registration documents in June 2011 in hopes of an initial public offering that has not yet panned out.

Since that time, there have been significant changes to Avaya's executive team, including the exits of Massetti, former CIO Stephen Gold, former Senior Vice Presidents Alan Baratz and Mohamad Ali, and former Vice Presidents Daniel Berg, Jeremy Butt, Joe Sigrist, Isabelle Guis and Anthony Bartolo, as well as the additions of Senior Vice Presidents Marc Randall, Michael Runda and Pierre Paul-Allard.

PUBLISHED AUG. 15, 2012