Data protection powerhouse Veeam has lost its co-CEO Peter McKay, with co-CEO and co-founder Andrei Baranov taking sole ownership of the position.
McKay’s departure has prompted a reshuffle. Ratmir Timashev, Veeam’s other co-founder, is now executive vice president for worldwide sales and marketing and William Largent will run operations. They will report to Baranov.
The company said the changes add extra focus and strength to help continue its rapid expansion into Enterprise and Cloud and accelerate growth across all markets.
McKay was in charge of Veeam’s sales, sales operations, marketing, finance and human resources. His main brief was to grow enterprise sales.
Baranov said: “I want to thank Peter McKay for his dedication and energy, and we all wish him the best in his new endeavours.”
McKay’s LinkedIn entry flags his Veeam departure but it sounds like he is going nowhere just yet. “As former Co-CEO of Veeam Software, I had the pleasure of leading a worldwide organization that epitomizes the modern company. Growing a business from $400 Million to $1 Billion was a great ride.”
Veeam is not yet officially a $1bn company.
The entry finishes with this: “It is an exciting time for organizations of all sizes as change brings opportunity. I’m honored that I had the chance to lead Veeam and have an impact on the lives of customers, partners, and employees. If you would like to contact me, find me on Twitter at @PeterCMcKay:”
Swings and roundabouts
McKay joined Veeam in July 2016 from VMware, where he was SVP and GM for the Americas. He became a President and a board member. At that time Timashev stepped down as CEO and EVP William Largent was promoted to the CEO slot.
Less than a year later McKay was promoted to co-CEO, replacing Largent who went up to the board to chair the finance and compensation committees.
At the time Timashev said: “Peter has a powerful track record as CEO of several successful startups as well as leadership positions in large established technology leaders like VMware and IBM, and has taken Veeam to the next level in the short 10 months since he joined last summer.”
Veeam announced impressive third quarter results a few days ago, with a 41st consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, and its $1bn annual revenue target in sight in a few quarters. The company said today that these executive changes will enable it to continue its growth trajectory to be the next billion-dollar software company.
Timashev said: “According to the most recent IDC Software Tracker for Data Replication & Protection 2018H1, Veeam is #4 in market share after Dell, IBM and Veritas, and ahead of Commvault; we are by far the fastest growing vendor with 24.7 per cent YOY growth, while others are declining.”
