Norman Rice Named Chief Commercial Officer; Streamlines Go-to-Market Team to Drive Long-Term Growth
Extreme Networks, Inc. announced it has strengthened and realigned its executive team. Norman Rice has been elevated to the role of Chief Commercial Officer. In his new role, Rice will focus on driving revenue growth and leading the company’s sales, partner, services and supply chain organizations.
Rice joined the company in 2015 and most recently served as Chief Operating Officer. During his tenure, he’s architected successful go-to-market sales motions including building the company’s stadium and venue business, orchestrating large opportunities with Verizon and Kroger, and managing the company through a complex macro supply chain environment.
Extreme’s Chief Revenue Officer Joe Vitalone has resigned from his position but will serve in an advisory role with the company to ensure a smooth transition.
“We’re at a pivotal time in Extreme’s history – successfully transitioning from a hardware-centric organization, to one that includes a thriving SaaS business. This requires us to streamline our leadership team to focus on capturing new revenue opportunities,” said Ed Meyercord, President and CEO of Extreme Networks. “Norman has a solid understanding of our business and excellent relationships with our customers, partners and direct sellers. He’s driven some of the largest opportunities in the company’s history and has operationalized new go-to-market motions that sets us up for long-term growth.”
Meyercord continued, “In the past year, we’ve heightened our focus on our rapidly growing SaaS revenue with the appointment of our Chief Product and Technology Officer Nabil Bukhari to GM of our subscription business. We’ve also deepened our bench of executive SaaS expertise with the recent additions of Chief Financial Officer Kevin Rhodes and Chief Marketing Officer Monica Kumar. The alignment of expertise is crucial to helping Extreme accelerate growth and capture more share. This leadership team will work in lockstep as we continue to take share in our core markets through our differentiated solutions, while driving growth from new commercial models.”
He concluded, “I’d like to thank Joe Vitalone. He joined the company during the middle of a pandemic and was instrumental in elevating our sales leadership and channel efforts. His contributions and leadership were crucial to our success. We wish him the best in his retirement.”
Read More: SalesTechStar Interview with Bob Moore, Co-Founder and CEO at Crossbeam