IBS Hires Former RedPrairie Executive as New CEO

Published: June 12, 2012

by Alex Woodie

IBM i ERP software maker International Business Systems last month selected Doug Braun as its new CEO. Braun, a former RedPrairie executive, will be tasked with overseeing the rebuilding process at IBS.

Braun will be counted on to help turn things around at IBS, which has seen better days. The Swedish software vendor has shed more than half its workforce since 2007 and has less than half the revenues in had in 2007, according to its recently issued 2011 annual report. The vendor, which specializes in manufacturing and distribution ERP for IBM i and Windows, is in the midst of rebuilding following several calamitous years in which it went through several CEOs and was eventually acquired by Symphony Technology Group (STG) a year ago.

Following the $35 million acquisition by STG, the company revised its business plan for the second half of the year, and implemented a new three-year plan. In its annual report, IBS claims it ran a profit during the second half of the year, which was largely the result by STG investments and new products and enhancements in the areas of cloud, mobile, workflow, performance management, sales and operations planning, and rights and royalties management.

So STG has at least righted the ship. Now Braun will be counted on to help grow the company again. Growing a software business is something that Braun has done before. While at RedPrairie, Braun held several top management roles in global product strategy and development, product management, hosting, and support. He created the company's SMB unit and was responsible for RedPrairie's first SaaS supply chain offering.

Braun, who graduated from the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee with a master's degree in international business and a B.B.A. in business administration, has the backing of Pallab Chatterjee, a managing director at STG and chairman of the board at IBS.

"Doug's vision for IBS combined with his list of accomplishments over 20 years at RedPrairie--from leading the first true on-demand SaaS supply chain offering to managing global expansion combined with his turnaround experience--make him the ideal candidate to move IBS forward," stated Chatterjee in a press release.

"Our leadership team is now in place and now is the time for IBS to reclaim its heritage as the leading distribution management ERP and supply chain company with the deepest knowledge and the industry's most complete solution." Chatterjee is in his second, non-consecutive stint as IBS chairman; he was one of two directors who resigned in late 2010 you will recall.

The CEO's seat at IBS has had a revolving cast of characters over the last four years. Christian Paulsson has had two stints as acting CEO in between Mike Shinya, who was hired in 2008 and ousted by the board in May 2010, and Johan Berg, who was hired in January 2011 but left in June 2011 after the acquisition by STG. Paulsson is currently the COO.

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