After more than two decades, Commvault appoints new CEO

Commvault today announced a new CEO to take over the reins from retiring president and CEO Bob Hammer.

Sanjay Mirchandani, former Puppet CEO, will assume Hammer's role and become a member of the board effective immediately.

Hammer has been at the helm of Commvault for more than two decades as it has grown to a US$3.1 billion market cap. He will also be stepping down from his role as Chairman of the Board, instead choosing to remain as Chairman Emeritus while Nick Adamo is promoted to Chairman of the Board - both these changes will become effective 18 April 2019.

According to Commvault, the company conducted an extensive global executive search to find a suitable candidate to take it through its next transformation initiative to drive sustained business performance and accelerate growth.

The search concluded with Mirchandi, who on top of his former role with Puppet has also held senior leadership positions with VMware, Dell EMC, and Microsoft with significant expertise in IT transformation.

While Mirchandi was Puppet CEO, the company's user base of open source and commercial solutions grew to more than 40,000, which included 75 percent of the Fortune 100. He was also involved in growing Puppet's presence and parterships across the globe and opened five new offices in Seattle, Singapore, Sydney, Timisoara, and Tokyo.

"Sanjay's accomplishments at Puppet demonstrate a deep understanding of multi-cloud and cloud native applications," says Commvault's incoming Chairman Nick Adamo.

"We are confident he is the ideal person to build on Commvault's current momentum and champion the rich heritage of combining innovation with an unwavering focus on customer and partner success.

Mirchandi says he is excited to be working with Commvault in this transitionary period.

"I'm honoured to join the Commvault team with its respected reputation, industry-leading technology and services, and infectious company culture," says Mirchandani.

"Commvault's partner-driven approach is closely aligned with my own. I look forward to being an advocate for our customer, channel and partner ecosystems to deliver complete solutions.

In another executive change, Al Bunte - who has worked alongside Hammer for more than two decades - will be stepping down from his role as chief operating officer but will retain his position as a member of the Board of Directors.

Both Hammer and Bunte will remain with the company through a transitionary period, with Hammer stepping away from the transition effective March 31, 2019.

"Bob and Al have contributed to Commvault in immeasurable ways. The Board is looking forward to the future under Sanjay's leadership," says Commvault Board member Martha Bejar.

"Sanjay has a well-deserved global reputation and has consistently risen to the top in previous organisations.