30 Notable IT Executive Moves: May 2016

Start It Off

May shook up the channel with blockbuster executive moves and shuffles in channel leadership. From Xerox's CEO stepping down, to new top leadership at FireEye, to continued executive changes at Cisco, there was a constant stream of news of executive departures and promotions throughout the month. Some of the moves had partners cheering, and others left them scratching their heads, but one thing is for sure: The remainder of 2016 will be an interesting year at some of the biggest technology companies in the market. Take a look at who was in, and who was out, for the month of May.

Dave DeWalt

One of the biggest blockbuster moves of the month came early in May, with the news that FireEye's Dave DeWalt would be stepping down as CEO. Effective June 15, DeWalt will serve as executive chairman and former president Kevin Mandia will assume the CEO role. Mandia joined FireEye as part of the company's 2014 acquisition of Mandiant, where he was founder and CEO. In an interview with CRN at the time, DeWalt said the leadership change will allow FireEye to take a "fresh look at things" and continue accelerating its security strategy. He said he plans to stay very involved with the company's sales and strategy going forward as executive chairman.

"It gives us the opportunity to really strengthen the leadership for years to come with this change," DeWalt said in an interview with CRN. "It really sets up FireEye for the next generation of the company."

Ursula Burns

After announcing a company split earlier this year, Xerox had more big news in May with the announcement that CEO Ursula Burns would be stepping down. The change will take place after the company completes its split into two publicly traded companies -- a $7 billion business process services organization and an $11 billion document technology business -- by the end of this year. She will not be assuming the CEO role at either company, but will remain as chairman of the board of the document technology business. Xerox said it is looking for new candidates inside and outside the company for leaders for the new management teams. Partners said they hoped Xerox would maintain its increasing focus on the channel after Burns leaves the company.

Amit Singh

Amit Singh said last month that he would be leaving his role as president of Google for Work, taking a role as vice president overseeing the company's virtual reality team. In that role, he is responsible for the business and operations of a unit that's developing headset devices, like the Google Cardboard viewer. Since joining Google in March 2010, Singh was instrumental in shaping Google's channel structure over the past five years in the role. Some partners said that change was for the worse, as Singh brought in former Oracle colleagues to lead sales that led to direct competition with partners. Some partners speculated that the move meant Google for Work was preparing for its next stage of growth. Google said it is looking for someone to fill the role, with former VMware executive Diane Greene working with the team in the interim.

Phil Sorgen

Microsoft's Phil Sorgen left his role as global channel chief last month, taking a position as corporate vice president of the U.S. Enterprise and Partner Group. He had previously held the title of corporate vice president of the worldwide partner group. Microsoft General Manager Gavrielle Schuster will fill in as interim channel chief while the company looks for a replacement, the company said. Sorgen had held the global channel chief role since September 2013, after leading the software giant's small and midmarket solutions and partner business in the U.S. since 2009.

Nick Earle

Cisco lost a key executive in its cloud business last month, with the departure of Senior Vice President of Global Cloud and Managed Services Sales Nick Earle. Earle was seen as a "founding father" of the company's cloud strategy, including the channel program and Cisco Intercloud "cloud of clouds" strategy. In a LinkedIn post about his departure, Earle said he was planning to take a role at a startup, but had "no hard plans yet." He will officially depart his role in a few months, he said. Earle's departure comes at a time of significant change at Cisco, as new CEO Chuck Robbins restructures the company's engineering team, adds new leadership and shakes up the company's cloud strategy.

Nick Adamo

Nick Adamo will be leaving Cisco after 21 years at the networking giant, CRN learned in May. Adamo had most recently served as senior vice president of the company's service provider practice. In that role, he was responsible for $12.4 billion of sales through the company's global sales, service delivery and business development. Partners said Adamo's departure is indicative of the company's shift in its service provider business to a more enterprise approach. Adamo will be replaced by Woody Sessoms, who currently services as senior vice president of Cisco's global enterprise theater and enterprise business segment. He will remain with Cisco until the end of the year, the company said.

Hatem Naguib

Barracuda Networks unveiled a big security executive win in May, naming former VMware security executive Hatem Naguib as the new senior vice president and general manager of its security business. Naguib had previously served as vice president of VMware's security and NSX networking business, a role he held until last month. VMware said Naguib was replaced by Milin Desai, vice president of product management for networking security. In an interview with CRN, Naguib said his priorities for the new role include network security, continued development of the email security business and expanding the company's cloud-ready solutions.

Ezra Hookano

Barracuda Networks also said last month that it had appointed Ezra Hookano as vice president of channels. The move marks a return to the company for Hookano, who was vice president of sales at the company from 2004 to 2010. Hookano held senior leadership positions at Drobo, Fusion-io and Exablox in the period between. Partners said they hope Hookano drives improvements in the company's channel program, particularly around incentives and deal registration.

Ken Bast

At the end of the month, Westcon-Comstor named longtime channel executive Ken Bast to lead its global partner management group. Bast began to serve as executive vice president of global partner management as of June 1. In the role, Bast will be responsible for the distributor's top global vendor and customer relationships and growing business with them, the company said. He replaces Bill Corbin, who left Westcon to take a role as senior vice president of strategic partnerships and channel operations for CenturyLink. Bast joined Westcon in August 2015 from FireScope, where he was senior vice president of global sales and field operations. Prior to that, he led the advanced technology division at Ingram Micro.

Bill Corbin

Former Westcon executive Bill Corbin has joined CenturyLink, the telecom giant said last month. Corbin will now serve as senior vice president of strategic partnerships and channel operations. He replaces channel chief Blake Wetzel, who left the company to take a position at Rackspace. Corbin will now be responsible for the provider's channel organization, including establishing, maintaining and managing strategic relationships with systems integrators, distributors, VARs and ISVs. The new role for the company was designed to put a "hyper-focus" on new routes to market and new partners.

"I think CenturyLink has focused on a fraction of the routes [to market] available," Corbin told CRN at the time. "I want to explore and understand how to get into all the potential channels, and get a lift across the entire channel organization.

Jed Ayres

German thin-client powerhouse IGEL Technology named former AppSense executive Jed Ayres as its new CEO of its North American business. Ayres, a 20-year tech industry veteran with strong channel ties, had previously served as senior vice president of marketing at AppSense. Ayres told CRN at the time that the new role was a "dream come true," and he hopes to leverage his extensive channel background to double down on IGEL's "channel-first" partner-led strategy with new tools and resources for partners, as well as enhanced vendor alliances. Partners said the appointment was a "game-changer" for IGEL's channel and marketing push in the U.S. market. Ayres officially started in the role on June 1.

Todd Dalton, Ron Falbo

Pluribus Networks made two big channel hires in May, naming Todd Dalton (pictured) to lead its channel sales in the West and Ron Falbo to lead channel sales in the East. Dalton, who joins Pluribus from Arista Networks, will now serve as senior director of Americas channel sales West. Falbo, who comes from Talari Networks, will serve as head of North America channels East. The appointments come as Pluribus strives to become a 100 percent channel company, something it says will allow it to better capitalize on the growing software-defined networking market.

Jim Lewandowski

As part of a series of executive departures in May, Firemon lost CEO Jim Lewandowski, who joined the company last June. Lewandowski was originally hired as president and COO, but transitioned into the CEO role in July, replacing co-founder Jody Brazil. Chairman of the Board Gary Fish said Lewandowski "was not working out" in his role as CEO and "it was decided he wasn't a fit for the business." Lewandowski did not respond at the time to requests for comment. Fish said a search had already started for a new CEO. Lewandowski had previously held leadership positions at FireHost, JLEW Consulting, Rackspace and McAfee.

Brandy Peterson

Firemon also lost Chief Technology Officer Brandy Peterson in May. Peterson joined Firemon in April 2015 from FishNet Security, which used to own Firemon before it was spun off in 2004. Peterson had served as CTO at FishNet. Chairman of the Board Gary Fish said the departure was not unexpected and he was "very supportive" of the move. Later in the month, GuidePoint Security said Peterson would be joining the company's team as principal of technology integration. The company did not specify plans for a new CTO.

Mark Carney

The final executive to leave Firemon last month was Chief Information Security Officer Mark Carney. Carney was promoted into the CISO role in January after serving as general manager for the company's security analytics platform, Immediate Insight. Similar to Peterson, Chairman of the Board Gary Fish said Carney's departure was not unexpected and he was very supportive of the executive and his new company. Carney has since taken a position as vice president of global consulting services at Kudelski Security, according to his LinkedIn profile.

John McAfee

Former McAfee founder and CEO John McAfee has landed a new role as CEO and executive chairman of MGT Capital Investments. The company will now be renamed as John McAfee Global Technologies and will acquire McAfee's latest startup, D-Vasive, as part of the appointment.

"The enormous impact of cybersecurity on our lives requires the scale and resources of a public company. Our ability to continue to hire the best minds in the business will be vastly enhanced with a public platform. With the acquisition of D-Vasive technology as a starting point, we expect to grow MGT into a successful and major force in the space," McAfee said in a statement at the time.

Marcus Holloway

MTM Technologies said last month that Marcus Holloway had been named as the solution provider's new president and CEO. Holloway will also join the company's board of directors. He replaces Steve Stringer, who will leave MTM Technologies on Aug. 16, the company said. Holloway comes to MTM Technologies from Capgemini, where he was North American business development leader. In a statement at the time, Holloway said he looks forward to leveraging MTM's platform, people and strategic partners to "become an even larger industry leader."

Alan Bechara

DISYS Solutions made a big executive addition last month as it looks to boost its sales in the federal sector. The solution provider said that it had hired former PCM executive Alan Bechara to serve as senior vice president of sales and marketing. Bechara had previously served as president of PCMG, PCM's subsidiary that sells to government, education and health-care customers. Bechara had been with PCM for 14 years. Prior to that he held positions at Insight Enterprises.

Jon Callas

Just after Apple wrapped up its fight with the FBI over an encrypted iPhone, the company in May rehired a top secure communications expert, Jon Callas. The company did not say what Callas' new role would be. Callas has worked at Apple twice in his career and help developed the encryption system used to protect data on Macs. He is also well-known for co-founding PGP Corp., Silent Circle and Blackphone.

Charles Giancarlo

Security startup Attivo Networks said last month that it had added Charles Giancarlo to its board of directors. Giancarlo is well-known in technology circles, having served as executive vice president, chief technology and development officer at Cisco and, most recently, as a senior adviser to Silver Lake Partners. He sits on the boards of Accenture, Arista Networks, Blue Jeans Network, Imperva and ServiceNow.

"Charlie is one of the most accomplished leader in our industry with solid operational and governance background," CEO Tushar Kothari said in a statement at the time. "We are truly honored to have him join our board and we will count on his counsel as we scale our business and establish Attivo Networks as the undisputed leader in our category. His support validates the impact that the Attivo technology and team is having on securing our clients' networks."

Charles "C.J." Spallitta

Trustwave said on May 24 that it had appointed Charles "C.J." Spallitta to serve as senior vice president of product management. Spallitta most recently served as executive director of worldwide portfolio management at HPE. He has also held positions at Verizon Enterprise Solutions, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Cybertrust, Betrusted and the Security Assurance Group.

"C.J. brings three decades of technology leadership experience to this position, and we're excited to welcome him to the Trustwave team. His industry knowledge of the security market and the larger information technology landscape will be integral to growing our comprehensive portfolio of cybersecurity technologies and managed security services," CEO and President Robert McCullen said in a statement at the time.

Cynthia Stoddard

Adobe said in May that Cynthia Stoddard would be assuming the role of senior vice president and chief information officer at the software company. As of June 13, Stoddard will be responsible for strategy, development and deployment of technology to support the company's cloud platform. Stoddard most recently served as chief information officer and senior vice president at NetApp. She has also held positions at Safeway and APL Limited.

Matt Goulet

GlobalScape named a new president and CEO last month, with the appointment of Matt Goulet to the role. Goulet had previously served as chief operating officer at the company, a role he had held since October 2015. He replaces James Bindseil, who had served in the top leadership role since December 2013. After helping the company grow its revenue to the highest in history as COO, Goulet is now responsible for helping the company continue to accelerate that growth with a focus on its core technologies and technology alliance partnerships.

Daniel Burke

Shortly after the appointment of Goulet as CEO, GlobalScape announced more executive appointments. The first of which was naming Daniel Burke as vice president of worldwide sales, responsible for the company's enterprise sales, midmarket sales, international sales and business development teams. Burke had most recently served as enterprise sales manager at GlobalScape. Prior to joining the company in 2013, he held roles at Kaspersky Lab, Trend Micro, LogiKeep and CentraComm.

Adam Snider

GlobalScape also said in May that it had named Adam Snider as vice president of operations, responsible for the operations teams. Snider most recently served as vice president of sales and sales operations and director of information systems. He has been with the company since 2008.

"Dan and Adam are incredibly talented individuals who have been vital to the recent success and growth of Globalscape. While we have worked tirelessly to break a number of company revenue records in the past few years, we have a challenging mission ahead of us to continue to propel Globalscape forward. I undoubtedly believe that Dan and Adam’s experience, vision and leadership will help raise and set the bar for our sales and operations teams for many years to come," new President and CEO Matt Goulet said about the appointments.

Jeff Romano

Enterprise communications company 8x8 said in May that it had added Jeff Romano as senior vice president of global services and support. Romano joins 8x8 from Model N, where he ran the global services, education and support teams. In his new role, he will be responsible for leading 8x8's global deployment services, professional services, program management and global customer support and success organizations. His appointment is part of a push by 8x8 into the enterprise and midmarket, the company said, and Romano has been charged with taking 8x8's customer experience to the next level to further that mission.

"8x8 is transforming the way businesses communicate and collaborate with the power of the cloud," Romano said in a statement at the time. "I am thrilled to be joining the company during this rapid growth phase, and look forward to building out a world-class service and support organization that simplifies the adoption of 8x8 technology for midmarket and enterprise customers around the world."

Pete Eggimann

Netformx landed former EMC executive Pete Eggimann last month. Eggimann will now serve as vice president of business development at the software company. He most recently served as director of EMC's VSPEX Ecosystem Program. In his new role, Eggimann will help grow the company's Netformx Alliance Program and business development.

"We are delighted that Pete Eggimann has joined the Netformx team," CEO Ittai Bareket said in a statement at the time. "Having worked with Pete for years as a Netformx Alliance partner at EMC, we know that he understands the business and technical drivers of the industry and that he has a very strong customer focus. Pete will play a central role as Netformx expands its ecosystem to bring continuing value to our customers and Alliance partners."

Carrie Roberts

Security startup iSheriff named Carrie Roberts as vice president of global sales on May 5. Roberts has a long channel background, recently serving as director of global channels and alliances at Security Mentor and worldwide director of global channel sales at BeyondTrust. Roberts will be responsible for overseeing all sales and renewal members at iSheriff.

"We are very excited about Carrie’s plans for our global channel sales efforts moving forward. She has a proven history building sales organizations and delivering solid results and will be instrumental in ramping up iSheriff’s global channel presence." CEO John Mutch said in a statement at the time.

Steve Moscarelli

Security startup Gurucul expanded its executive ranks last month, naming Steve Moscarelli as vice president of sales. Moscarelli most recently served as vice president of sales at Attivo Networks. He has also held positions at Check Point, Qualys, Sourcefire, PortAuthority and Tufin.

"We’re extremely pleased that Steve has joined our executive management team as vice president of sales," CEO Saryu Nayyar said in a statement at the time. "He has a proven track record for building high-performance sales teams and consistently growing revenues for both established and startup security vendors. Steve’s leadership skills and C-level relationships will help Gurucul aggressively capture new market share based on our unique ability to both reduce a company’s identity attack surface and detect insider and account compromise threats across both on-premises and cloud infrastructures."

Margie Frasier

Semafone, a provider of secure payment software, said last month that it had added Margie Frasier as channel chief. Frasier will now serve as senior vice president for global partnerships and alliances, responsible for growing and managing the company's strategic alliances and partnerships. Frasier joins the company from Acme Packet, where she most recently served as global alliance manager. She has also held positions at Nortel Networks and Shiva.

"Margie’s deep understanding of the telecom and enterprise technology industries will aid Semafone in achieving our ambitious growth plans, worldwide. … I am extremely pleased to welcome her to the Semafone team," CEO Tim Critchley said in a statement at the time.