Ciber Names New CEO Amid Restructuring Efforts

CRN Solution Provider 500 powerhouse Ciber named board member Michael Boustridge as its newest chief executive. Boustridge, who was officially promoted to president and CEO Tuesday, succeeds former CEO Dave Peterschmidt, who is retiring amid extensive restructuring efforts at the company.

Peterschmidt was named to Ciber's top position and board of directors in 2010 and previously served as CEO of both OpenWave Systems and Inktomi, as well as serving as COO of Sybase.

"I am delighted to be able to hand over the reins of the company to Michael," Peterschmidt said in prepared statement. "I know I am leaving the company in good hands and on solid footing, with a remarkable team of professionals that will continue to build on Ciber's achievements."

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Boustridge first joined Ciber in 2012 as a member of the board of directors. Most recently he served as CEO of cloud provider Contact Solutions and served as president of BT Global Services and chief sales and marketing officer at EDS.

"I am excited about the global opportunity for Ciber, committed to Ciber’s focus on delivering superior service for clients, and energized to work with Ciber’s strong internal team to build on recent successes and drive sustainable predictable growth," said Boustridge. Ciber said Peterschmidt will continue to work with Boustridge "to ensure a seamless transition."

Ciber, which is No. 38 on this year's SP500 list, established itself as a top international solution provider under Peterschmidt, but the company's growth has stalled in recent years. Ciber instituted a cost-reduction and restructuring plan in late 2012 to help improve profitability, but company reported $877 million in revenue for 2013, which marked just a 1 percent increase from the previous year. While Ciber's revenue fell 1 percent in first quarter this year, the company said its operating margins increased to 3.2 percent from 2.3 percent one year ago.

"Our restructuring initiatives are beginning to deliver the benefits we set out to achieve," said Christian Mezger, Ciber's CFO, during the company's first-quarter earnings call in April. Peterschmidt's retirement is the second major change for Ciber's leadership team this year. Richard Genovese stepped down from his position as executive vice president and COO in January after spending two years with the solution provider; Ciber did not name a replacement for Genovese.

PUBLISHED JUNE 17, 2014