Which brings me to the topic of your brand new CEO, my friend and colleague, Doug Merritt. You have brought us to this place, and it’s your opportunity and responsibility to take us forward into the future. I can’t think of a better example of a company where “we did this ourselves” than Splunk. Not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worst when they despise him.įail to honor people, they fail to honor you.īut of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say “we did this ourselves”. Which brings me to a writing from 600 BC by Lao-Tzu:Ī leader is best when people barely know he exists. It’s quite a privilege to be a part of this team. You build the products, you support our customers, you drive our systems and processes that make us all better. While I’m honored to have led Splunk for the last seven years, there were so many of you who made more important contributions. Let’s not forget that our products are at the center of everything we do.įrom the early days until now, and into the future as far as I can see, this is a team sport. Those products have enabled all of us to build a lasting company that delivers high levels of customer success, and it’s a tail wind that makes everything else just a little easier. Our NPS score of 50+ is the best evidence of the outrageous products that our engineering teams have developed. Erik and Rob had a great idea, and our somewhat crazy engineering teams have turned that vision into a compelling set of products that our customers love to use. If I tried to recap the highlights of the last seven years, this email would be too long. Everything about Splunk is good, but it’s time for me to spend more time with Sudz and family. You want to explain it, but you get choked up trying to get the words out. Third, I love all of you in a way that’s most similar to how a parent is proud of their kids. We’ve gone from a fragile startup to an important company, and customers worldwide depend on us to keep delivering success for them. Not even a close second to this disruptive and irreverent place – it’s a perfect match for a non-conformist like me! Second, I’m 100% bullish on the future opportunity for Splunk. First, I’ve had more fun leading Splunk for the last seven years than anything else I’ve ever done. I want everyone to know a few really important things. All of this is effective today, as I’m delighted to announce that Doug Merritt, one of my favorite people on this planet, is taking my place as your new CEO/President! More on Doug in a minute, but first I should explain my decision. I will continue to serve Splunk as non-executive Chairman, which is a fancy way of saying that I’m not an employee (after Jan 31st) but still considered an insider by all the regulatory agencies. Today we are announcing that your favorite CEO (that would be me)) is retiring from Splunk. Re/code has obtained an internal memo written by Sullivan and shared with Splunk employees announcing the management change. Splunk shares rose 2 percent in after-hours trading. Revenue was $174.4 million, ahead of the consensus view of $160 million. It posted earnings per share of five cents on a non-GAAP basis, beating the estimates of analysts, who expected a one cent per-share profit. The news came on the same day that Splunk announced quarterly results. He moved to Splunk last year and sits on the board of Birst, a business intelligence startup. He then took a gig at Cisco Systems as a senior VP for product and solution marketing.
#Splunk ceo software#
He then spent a year as CEO at Baynote, a mobile commerce software company. Merritt is a former executive VP at software giant SAP and spent six years there, ending in 2011, including a stint running its global on-demand solutions business. That began a two-year run that peaked in early 2014 when Splunk shares hit $92.75. Splunk’s IPO was one of the more successful tech offerings in recent memory, pricing at $17 a share and jumping 108 percent in its first day of trading. Sullivan led Splunk for seven years, landing there in 2008 after running Hyperion Solutions from 2001 until its $3 billion acquisition by Oracle in 2007. Sullivan will remain as non-executive chairman. Splunk named Doug Merritt, a senior VP, as the new CEO, effective immediately. Godfrey Sullivan, the CEO of Splunk who in 2012 saw the software company through what turned out to be the first IPO of a company devoted to the idea of big data, is retiring, the company said today.
0 kommentar(er)
