Citrix shaken up as two top execs walk
Steamlining processes apparently.
By Staff, Computing South Africa and Kieren McCarthy | Computing South Africa | Published: 00:00, 02 July 2004
Citrix has unexpectedly announced a reorganisation and the less of two senior execs, causing the market to knock six percent off the company's share price.
The infrastructure solutions provider has yet to put out an official response and has so far refused to comment in any depth but it did say a reorganisation of its corporate services and product development divisions had taken place.
The internal changes are, at least according to the company, designed to streamline back-office processes, increase cross-company collaboration across all functions, improve overall customer service and simplify the company?s organisation.
However, the news that CIO Jeanne M. Moreno and CTO Bob Kruger have both walked, has sparked a huge amount of speculation and uncertainty. Citrix says that Moreno and Kruger have agreed to continue to support the company during the transition period.
During this time, the customer care team will be integrated under John Burris, senior vice-president of worldwide sales and services. HR functions will now report directly to Mark Templeton, president and CEO, and the ICT, facilities, purchasing, and manufacturing teams will be integrated into the finance and administration organization, under CFO David Henshall. In product development, Jeff Russo, vice-president of engineering operations, will take on the role of acting senior executive.
"Citrix is in a beginning stage of a multi-year growth strategy," said Templeton. "We are actively elevating our solutions for secure access, our strategic value to businesses, our client relationships, visibility of our brand, our go-to-market partnerships, our business systems and our employees. We are always assessing the business, looking for ways to improve, and making the necessary changes to ensure that all company functions are best aligned for great execution."
Analysts have been less prosaic. Technological weakness, alarm bells and rats sinking ship have all been touted as more accurate summaries of the situation.
