Storage array company Nexsan has appointed Ron Bienvenu as CEO, while current CEO Robert Fernander will become chairman emeritus of the board of directors.

Bienvenu is the former CEO of Process Software, the founder and former CEO of SageMaker, and is currently a managing partner at Spear Point Capital Management, which he co-founded.

ron bienvenu nexsan
Ron Bienvenu  – Nexsan

Internal rift 

The transition appears to have occurred in a time of tension: As early as 2013,  private equity firm Spear Point called out Nexsan’s previous owner Imation for “board pay unhinged from results.”

Writing on SeekingAlpha  in November 2014, a representative of the firm denounced an increase in board member compensation despite a decrease in share value of 33.5 percent in the space of eleven months, demanding a 10 percent reduction in remuneration. Referring to a previous decrease as “insulting window dressing,” a “by and large” replacement of board members was called upon.

Imation was then taken over by activist investing firm Clinton Group, which closed non-core businesses and bought private cloud file sync-and-share storage appliance provider Connected Data.

Then, late last year, Spear Point’s NXSN Acquisition Corp bought Nexsan and Connected Data through a stock purchase agreement. Now, with the sale having gone through, it appears to be making changes.

Nexsan

Other adjustments include appointing former Connected Data CEO and Nexsan CTO, Dr. Geoff Barrall, as Nexsan’s new COO, while the former consultant for HGST and for Nexsan, John Westfield, will become the company’s new CFO.

Senior VP of WW sales Tony Craythorn and CMO Victoria Grey will join the executive team.