SugarCRM Inc., the company that helps organizations build better business relationships, announced that it has appointed Craig Charlton as chief executive officer effective immediately. Charlton succeeds Larry Augustin, SugarCRM’s former CEO, who has been named chairman of the board of directors.
“Craig is going to take SugarCRM to the next level,” said Augustin. “His experience in accelerating growth organically and through acquisitions, his passion for acquiring and servicing customers at global scale and his expertise in building, selling, implementing and supporting Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems make him an extraordinary fit for SugarCRM.” Augustin continued, “He is the right person to lead SugarCRM to the next stage of growth.”
Charlton has spent over 25 years building and running high-growth businesses. Most recently, he was CEO of Oildex, a provider of financial automation software and services for the oil and gas industry, where he helped the company achieve 150% bookings growth, leading to the company’s acquisition by Drillinginfo. Before joining Oildex, Craig was CEO of Abila, a provider of financial and CRM software and services to associations, nonprofit organizations and governmental entities. Abila, which was acquired by Community Brands, grew its revenues threefold and transformed its revenue base to a subscription-based (SaaS) model over a three-year period.
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Prior to that, Charlton was senior vice president and general manager Asia Pacific at Epicor Software Corporation, an industry-leading ERP solution provider, where he developed and executed the company’s regional strategy, achieving consistent revenue and profit growth.
“I’m incredibly excited to join the SugarCRM team,” said Charlton. “SugarCRM has that rare combination of a passionate customer base, high-performing channel partners and market-leading solutions that help customers increase the productivity of their sales, service and marketing teams. The company has a relentless focus on delivering an intuitive user experience, dedication to technology innovation and significant market momentum. I’m honored to join all of the great people that have fueled SugarCRM’s success and look forward to helping the company accelerate growth.”
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Larry Augustin will remain actively involved in the company as chairman of the board of directors. He will continue to assist the company with long-term strategy and customer evangelism. During Augustin’s tenure as CEO, the company grew revenue by 10x and established itself as a leading CRM disruptor with more than 5,000 customers and 2 million users in over 120 countries. SugarCRM is the number one vendor in the prestigious PCMag Readers’ Choice Awards with the highest Net Promoter Score in the survey.
“We’re starting a new phase of growth for SugarCRM,” added Charlton. “I’m grateful to Larry for building a company that has such a strong foundation and bright future ahead. The employees at SugarCRM are world class and the value that we are providing to companies worldwide has and will only continue to grow.”
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