FireEye's Executive Chairman And Former CEO, Dave DeWalt, Has Resigned

After stepping aside from the CEO role last year, FireEye Executive Chairman Dave DeWalt has now fully resigned from the security vendor, the company announced Thursday.

FireEye said it was notified of DeWalt's resignation on Jan. 29. The company said it does not have a replacement for the executive chairman position at this time, though a spokesperson said a search is underway for the right candidate.

A FireEye spokesperson told CRN that the executive change was part of a "natural progression" of leadership at the company. DeWalt has also joined digital identity management startup ForgeRock as Executive Chairman on Jan. 26, and the spokesperson said he had taken an increased role on the board of directors at Delta Airlines.

[Related: FireEye Execs Admit Channel Troubles And Pledge To Win Back Partner Trust]

FireEye also announced that CFO Mike Berry had left the company to pursue another opportunity. Berry has been replaced by Frank Verdecanna, FireEye senior vice president of finance and chief accounting officer. FireEye also announced Kevin Taylor to lead its EMEA sales organization and the appointment of former iSight Partners CEO John Watters as executive vice president of Global Services and Intelligence.

FireEye announced the changes alongside its fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2016 earnings. FireEye dropped drastically in after-hours trading, down more than 18 percent to $10.63.

DeWalt joined FireEye in April 2012 as CEO, leading the Milpitas, Calif.-based company through a period of rapid growth as it pioneered the market for advanced threat protection. However, FireEye struggled more recently as it faced increased competition and tough criticism by Wall Street.

In June 2016, FireEye announced that DeWalt would be stepping down as CEO, replaced by current CEO Mandia. Mandia joined FireEye as part of the company's acquisition of Mandiant and, as CEO, has driven a vision around innovation, the channel and a push towards profitability.

While DeWalt has been a key figure in FireEye's growth, Nick Giampietro, partner and director of sales at G-Net Solutions, a Babylon, N.Y.-based FireEye partner, said he doesn't expect to see much change resulting directly from the departure.

Giampietro said that while DeWalt helped lead the company through a period of "groundbreaking" and "paradigm shifting technology," he is pleased with the direction he sees FireEye head under its new era of leadership. He said he sees current CEO Kevin Mandia as very "channel-focused and customer-focused" and is optimistic about its new technology direction, especially around its Helix platform and FireEye-as-a-Service.

"I found that when Kevin Mandia took over the more day to day reigns and the more hands on reigns that was a very positive effect for us as far as channel goes and what the product has done," Giampietro said.