ConnectWise, led by CEO Jason Magee and backed by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, has added four executives to its c-suite team, and also confirmed two executive departures from the recently acquired Continuum team.
The new additions at ConnectWise, a business automation and IT management software company, include:
- Chief Operating Officer: Former Continuum CFO Geoffrey Willison shifts to ConnectWise chief operating officer (COO), which ChannelE2E previously reported.
- Chief Financial Officer: D+H and ADP veteran Brad Surminsky joins as CFO. Surminsky has previously worked with a range of Vista Equity-backed businesses. On a sort-of-related note, Vista owns ConnectWise rival Datto.
- Chief Revenue Officer: Broadcom and CA Technologies veteran Clint Maddox joins as chief revenue officer (CRO). He's well-known across the service provider market. Maddox and Magee knew each other during their mutual time at CA, but that wasn't a factor in Maddox's hiring at ConnectWise.
- Chief Technology Officer: Steve Cochran has been named chief technology officer (CTO). Cochran has worked for a range of businesses that underwent digital transformations. He has also built/accelerated successful digital exchanges. Those experiences could bode well for the ConnectWise Marketplace -- which is evolving into more of a SaaS distribution system for third-party tools and technologies. Cochran is also well-known to Thoma Bravo's leadership. His title online briefly mentioned the "interim" moniker at ConnectWise, but there's no specific timeline for any type of departure, the company says.
ConnectWise Executive Leadership At a Glance
The ConnectWise website now displays these executives on the company's leadership page...
In a prepared statement about the team, CEO Jason Magee said:
“In late October, ConnectWise announced some transformational moves, including our acquisitions of Continuum and ITBoost, that will position us to become the leading technology and services platform for TSPs. Now, I am excited to announce the leadership structure that will help us execute on that strategy. This is an extraordinary team, one that represents the legacy ConnectWise and Continuum businesses, as well as respected leaders from outside who bring a fresh perspective. With these updates to the team, I am incredibly optimistic about our company going into 2020 and beyond.”
No doubt, ConnectWise and Magee remain firmly focused on technology solutions providers (TSPs) and managed IT services providers (MSPs). But the executive updates also show how private equity firms often tap known leaders from their established talent pools for leadership posts in recent acquisitions.
Also, the updates quietly reinforce co-founder and former CEO Arnie Bellini's shift to interests outside of the business. The executive page had previously listed Bellini as an advisor since Thoma Bravo acquired ConnectWise in February 2019. That mention is no longer displayed.
ConnectWise Executive Leadership Updates: More Details
The four new CXO executives report to Magee. The rest of the ConnectWise leadership team remains in place -- including Chief Product Officer Jeff Bishop, Chief Talent Officer Jennifer Locklear, and Senior Vice President of Marketing Scott Marshall, the company said.
As part of the new organizational structure, Steve Farnan, Senior Vice President of North America Sales, and Gregg Lalle, Senior Vice President of International Sales and Strategy, and the Continuum sales leaders will now report to CRO Clint Maddox. Chief Customer Officer Craig Fulton will now report to COO Geoffrey Willison, ConnectWise said.
Some Departures
In addition, ConnectWise announced the departures of:
- Robert (Bob) Kocis, who had served as Continuum’s CRO since 2016. Kocis has chosen to move on to a new opportunity at the end of this year.
- Also, Tasos Tsolakis, Continuum’s senior vice president of global service delivery since 2017, chose to step down from his position earlier this month. Tsolakis's departure is a bit surprising to ChannelE2E, since he was expected to run NOC, SOC and help desk services under the combined companies. Going forward, his team will report to ConnectWise COO Geoffrey Willison.
In a prepared statement, Magee thanked both Kocis and Tsolakis for their work:
“Both Bob and Tasos played significant roles in Continuum’s success during their tenure. Bob was instrumental in delivering a world class sales organization and partner experience, while Tasos built an enormously successful and scalable services delivery organization that is now positioned for growth and expansion as part of the larger plan with ConnectWise. Their collective efforts have helped set ConnectWise up for future success, and we thank them for their invaluable contributions and wish them nothing but the best.”
The executive moves outlined above come roughly six weeks after ConnectWise acquired Continuum. Here are additional moves we expect from the company through mid-2020.
