CompTIA – about your recent CEO search – we are here to help.
After the global IT training and certification vendor announced in November that it was being acquired and split into two distinct parts, ChannelE2E started thinking about the right person to lead CompTIA’s soon-to-be-separate non-profit trade association. Who should it be? What qualities and qualifications should that person have?
So, we asked some IT insiders and experts to name the top three qualities that CompTIA’s candidates must have to fill the role and speculate about who might be perfect for the job. Unsurprisingly, not many people wanted to name names when it came to potential candidates. But they did have some thoughts about the qualities that person should possess. Here is what they had to say.
Focus on Cybersecurity Expertise
Wayne Hunter, the co-founder and CEO of IT services vendor AvTek Solutions, Inc., told ChannelE2E that this is an important candidate search for CompTIA and its members.
“I do not have any specific names, but it needs to be someone with strong relationships in the industry as well as connections with policymakers that affect the cyber and compliance regulations that are changing daily,” said Hunter.
One critical role for the new CEO will be helping the newly separated trade association (which still does not have a name) remain synchronized with AvTek’s business needs through his company’s focus on cybersecurity, risk management, and compliance, said Hunter. “We believe the CompTIA Cybersecurity Trustmark certification is a differentiator for our industry. The new CEO should embrace it and strive to have it as a beacon for our industry.”
Wanted: ‘A Tech-Savvy Superhero Fighting for IT Pros Everywhere’
Another expert, Richard Tubb, an IT business growth specialist and the founder of the Tubblog for MSPs, said that CompTIA's next CEO must “think globally but act locally like a tech-savvy superhero fighting for IT professionals everywhere,” thanks to the organization’s global reach. “A global perspective ensures they can rally international support while addressing the nitty-gritty of regional needs. Without this, they would be like a router with no internet connection: Technically there, but not doing much.”
The trade association’s new CEO must also be a “relationship builder extraordinaire,” said Tubb. “If there is one thing I have learned in 20 years in this space, the IT industry is as much about who you know as what you know. A CEO with a talent for outreach and relationship-building is critical. The right leader must embrace vendors, educators, and MSPs alike, all while smiling and shaking hands at conferences. The CompTIA CEO needs to be the James Bond of networking – and that includes the martinis in the bar after the conference.”
Tubb said that it will also be important for the new CEO to be able to answer technically minded questions without hesitating, so candidates must be experts in the field. “If they can explain an enterprise IT strategy to a room full of MSPs while still having everyone nodding along by the end, they are gold,” said Tubb. “It is about making sense of chaos, like a managed service provider on a Friday afternoon when the client’s Exchange server mysteriously goes offline.”
Ironically, Tubb had interviewed Todd Thibodeaux, CompTIA’s current president and CEO, on his Tubblog site just days before the organization’s acquisition and split was announced. Thibodeaux will be moving over from his present role to lead the for-profit certification and training company acquired by private equity buyers.
“I can tell you that Todd is a tech's tech,” said Tubb.
Get Consensus on Concerns and Coverage From Member Companies
Jack E. Gold, the president and principal analyst of J.Gold Associates, LLC, told ChannelE2E that the trade association’s new CEO must “get a consensus of what companies want CompTIA to focus on and how they want to be represented” so they can lead the organization to success. “To some extent, this is a political assignment, so the new leader should have background in running a consensus-based organization.”
The new leader must also be a good promoter for the group’s activities and services, and it would be great if they also had experience in non-profits to ensure it stays healthy financially, according to Gold.
“I am not sure that I can give you a name of someone to recommend,” though, said Gold. “But it should probably be someone from the industry that has worked with CompTIA in the past, so they are able to hit the ground running.”
Drum Roll, Please… One Candidate Gets a Recommendation
While most experts we spoke with declined to name names, Shelly Kramer, managing director and principal analyst at theCUBE Research, did not hesitate.
“If I were CompTIA, I would instantly snap up the brilliant Drue Reeves, who just left AWS,” Kramer told ChannelE2E. “He is a brilliant strategist and proven business builder, a market intelligence genius, and is obviously capable of leading the growth of a company like CompTIA.
Reeves served as the director of market intelligence at Amazon Web Services until recently, said Kramer. “He is also well-liked in the industry, understands the challenges that tech industry folks face, and is well-suited to guide this next chapter of growth for the company.”
The CompTIA deal was unveiled on November 4 and will split the organization into a for-profit business unit that retains the CompTIA identity and a separate non-profit 501(c)(6) trade association that will be given a new name. CompTIA’s for-profit business is being acquired by two private equity firms in the deal, H.I.G. Capital and Thoma Bravo. The transaction is expected to be completed in 2025.
