Optiv Names Industry Vet As New President For Federal Business

The solution provider says former Dell executive Daniel Wilbricht has joined to head its Optiv + ClearShark subsidiary.

Cybersecurity powerhouse Optiv said that it has hired industry veteran Daniel Wilbricht as the new president of its federal business.

Wilbricht—a former Dell executive who most recently was general manager for public sector at cybersecurity vendor Devo—will head the Optiv + ClearShark subsidiary, based in Hanover, Md.

He’ll also serve as a member of the executive leadership team at Denver-based Optiv, No. 24 on CRN’s 2023 Solution Provider 500.

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In March, Optiv kicked off a major expansion in the federal space with the acquisition of ClearShark, a solution provider focused on U.S. government customers that was founded in 2001.

During his more than two decades in the tech industry, Wilbricht has held a number of roles related to the public sector and federal space. From 2013 to 2015, he served as a senior director in the public sector business at Dell, focused on the U.S. Department of Defense and other national security customers.

More recently, Wilbricht headed the public sector business at Devo starting in mid-2021. Earlier roles included serving as vice president for the Americas public sector business at Ivanti and as senior director of federal at LogRhythm.

In a statement Wednesday, Optiv CEO Kevin Lynch said he expects that Wilbricht will “use his decades of public sector experience to bring continuity, stability and continued success” to Optiv + ClearShark.

Wilbricht succeeds Brian Strosser, who was previously the president of ClearShark and continued to head the Optiv federal business following the acquisition earlier this year. Optiv did not specify what Strosser plans to do next but said that he will continue to serve in an advisory role during the leadership transition at Optiv + ClearShark.

Through the addition of ClearShark, Optiv has expected to derive roughly 20 percent of its revenue from federal customers, more than double the previous percentage, Lynch said at the time of the acquisition in March.

The expanded focus at Optiv on the federal space comes as the company continues laying the groundwork for going public. Optiv has been preparing for an IPO that would aim to bring new funds into the business for acquisitions along with creating liquidity for employees, Lynch told CRN recently.

In September, the company hired Marc Cabi as CFO. Cabi had previously served as deputy CFO at software maker Zendesk during its 2014 IPO.