Mighty BEAS Falls Hard- BEA Systems head of sales resigns
Field organization head Ashburn replace sales chief
By Michael Paige, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 5:14 PM ET Dec. 1, 2004
LOS ANGELES (CBS.MW) - In the latest high-level departure from BEA Systems' executive suite, the company's global sales chief Charles Ill resigned Wednesday to be replaced by Tom Ashburn, head of worldwide field operations.
The San Jose, Calif., application infrastructure software company (BEAS: news, chart, profile) said Ill's resignation was "by mutual consent," adding that the move was part of a streamlining of its worldwide field operation to help the company boost license revenue.
Ill's resignation had been speculated for some time following a string of executive departures earlier this year. Talk of the executive parting ways with the company was fueled after BEA in August bundled its sales, services and marketing functions under Ashburn's leadership. Prior to that change, Ill had reported directly to the chief executive. See related archived story.
Piper Jaffray analyst David Rudow believes Ill's resignation "signals the last of high-level management changes and hopefully brings some stability in the upper management layer," he said. BULLSH*T "This issue should have minimal impact on the sales force and productivity, given these changes really took place back in the summer and we expected Mr. Ill to leave at some point this year."
Earlier this week, BEA said it hired Marge Breya as chief marketing officer. Piper Jaffray's Rudow said, "We now hope the company can leverage these new people that have come on board this year, and focus on stimulating license growth, something that has been very difficult for them over the past three years."
The company has watched its license revenue -- a key indicator of the financial health of corporate software firms - shrink for the past three quarters. Indeed, BEA last month said third-quarter earnings climbed 15 percent as overall sales rose 5 percent. License revenue for the period, however, fell by some 10 percent.
Ashburn spent 33 years at Hewlett-Packard (HPQ: news, chart, profile) prior to joining BEA some two years ago. "Tom has proven himself both at BEA and at H-P as someone who can lead a large and complex organization to significant growth," BEA Chairman Alfred Chuang said in a statement. "Giving him direct responsibility for the sales force will help allow him to tightly integrate marketing and services efforts with our sales activities." BEA's stock rose 27 cents, or over 3 percent, to close at $8.35. (Ashburn is not said to be a fan of Carly "Wonder Woman" Fiorina- FWIW)
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
