Ivanti names Jeff Abbott as CEO
Ivanti announced that it has named Jeff Abbott as the new CEO, succeeding Jim Schaper in the role. Ivanti is backed by Clearlake Capital Group, L.P., TA Associates, and Charlesbank Capital Partners, LLC.
Mr. Abbott has served as President of the company since January 2020. Together with Mr. Schaper, he has led Ivanti through tremendous progress in the last 18 months, which includes more than doubling the size of the company’s revenue to over $1 billion dollars, and investing in and supporting the customer and employee base through an organic and acquisition growth strategy.
“Jeff is a natural leader and has been instrumental in helping Ivanti achieve the success we have realized in the last two years, and I’m excited to watch Ivanti continue to grow at an accelerated rate under his leadership,” said Mr. Schaper.
“This transition was always part of our plan when we both came to Ivanti, and I am confident in Jeff’s ability to continue to deliver on the course we have set as an organization to make the Everywhere Workplace possible and secure. Ivanti has the right leaders in place across the company to create great business outcomes for our customers and partners, while also providing a culture of collaboration and opportunity for our employees.”
Mr. Abbott has more than 25 years of experience working for large software and services companies, including Accenture, Oracle, and Infor. As President of Ivanti, he oversaw all aspects of product and go-to-market strategy and execution, including product development, product management, marketing, global sales, customer experience, and operations.
Through recent acquisitions, including Pulse Secure, MobileIron, Cherwell, and most recently RiskSense, Ivanti has bolstered the company’s solutions and created a holistic zero trust security and IT service architecture to solve the problems presented in this new working environment.
Ivanti also announced today three new appointments to the board of directors. Mr. Abbott will join the board along with new co-Chairpersons Chris Heim and Dan Mayleben, industry leaders with experience driving growth and creating long-term value in software companies.
“I joined Ivanti because I saw an opportunity to address the needs of IT and employees by supporting the future of work and making the Everywhere Workplace possible,” said Mr. Abbott. “Now more than ever, user expectations are high and there is a very real threat of cyber-attacks, all driving an even stronger need for our solutions. Our team is making a real impact for people and organizations around the world. I appreciate Jim’s partnership over the years, and I am excited both to continue the partnership with Clearlake, TA, and Charlesbank and also to welcome Chris Heim and Dan Mayleben to our board of directors.”
Mr. Heim is the Executive Chairman of HelpSystems, a cybersecurity and automation company where he was previously the CEO. Mr. Mayleben is also on the board of HelpSystems, where he was the CFO and worked closely with Chris to more than triple the size of the company by executing on a successful software consolidation strategy.
In addition, Mr. Heim and Mr. Mayleben created strategic value at HelpSystems by shifting greater focus and investment into cybersecurity and building a large-scale organization that today provides critical infrastructure software to over 20,000 customers worldwide. The duo has also been instrumental in the growth and success of several other software companies and have been affiliated with TA and Charlesbank for a number of years.
“Chris and Dan bring tremendous experience to the Ivanti board in helping software companies scale,” said Mr. Abbott. “They have an excellent track record working closely with management teams to catapult companies into the next phase of growth. The entire Ivanti team couldn’t be more excited to have them join us, and we look forward to leveraging their deep expertise and strategic insights to enhance our journey.”
“We are all thrilled to partner with Jeff as CEO and complete our leadership succession plan, and we are highly confident he is the right person with the right expertise to lead Ivanti forward in its next chapter,” said Behdad Eghbali, Founder and Managing Partner of Clearlake, Harry Taylor, Managing Director at TA, and Hiren Mankodi, Managing Director at Charlesbank.
“We thank Jim for his contributions to Ivanti and the incredible growth and transformation that he, Jeff, and the entire Ivanti organization have been able to drive in such a short time. Additionally, we’re excited to partner with Chris and Dan on the board of directors as their expertise in rapidly scaling software companies will only help accelerate Ivanti’s continued growth.”