Douglas, who currently serves as President and CEO of enterprise technology distributor Westcon Group Inc., was previously CEO of LCC International and has also held a number of executive roles at both IBM and Motorola. He will take up his appointment on Jan. 16, 2014, at which point Akhavan will join the Executive Board, where he will continue to support the Unify business.
Mark Stone, Chairman of the Executive Board commented: “I am very happy that after many months of searching, we have found the ideal successor and leader in Dean. He brings deep understanding of the enterprise technology industry and intensive experience of successful sales channel and partnership development in a variety of international roles, which will be essential as we continue the transformation of Unify into the most capable supplier in the industry. Dean has an impressive track record of creating growth both organically and via successful acquisitions.”
Commenting on his appointment, Douglas said: “I am very excited about joining Unify. The company has a long and distinguished heritage, and yet has an agenda to reinvent itself and the industry. Cloud-based delivery opens up entirely new consumption, commercial and distribution models and I see Unify as perfectly positioned to innovate new ways for enterprise users to access the best collaboration tools. I look forward to working with Hamid as I transition into the role. We will continue to open the eyes of the industry to what is possible, and then deliver – creating new value for our customers, partners, shareholders and our people.”
Stone added: “I am grateful for Hamid’s championship of Unify’s transformation into a leadership position in the industry during the past four years. He has led a transformation that has streamlined the Unify business, modernized its portfolio and reinvented its market approach culminating in Project Ansible and the launch of the exciting Unify brand this year. I am delighted that he will be joining the Board and continue his support of the business.”
Akhavan commented: “I am truly proud of what we have achieved so far. We have worked hard on improving our cost structures while raising our customer satisfaction to the highest levels and developing our product portfolio to the most exciting in the industry. This has been a very demanding task but the great people within Unify have risen to the challenges time and again. I’m very happy to support Dean as we embark on this next stage in Unify’s journey under his leadership.