Horsham, PA February 20, 2002 Changes continue apace at Verticalnet, with the announcement this week that a software industry veteran will take over as CEO.
Verticalnet co-founder Michael Hagan, who had been serving as president and CEO, is moving into the chairman's slot, making way for Verticalnet board member and former SAP America CEO Kevin McKay to take over the chief executive position.
McKay, who will also be president at Verticalnet, has held a variety of positions with technology, financial management and enterprise software providers over the past 20 years.
Most recently, McKay headed Capita Technologies, a technology service provider in the Interpublic Group. Prior to his stint as CEO of SAP America, he served as that company's chief operating officer and the chief financial officer.
Last week, Verticalnet appointed a new chief financial officer, John Milana, another SAP America veteran and also formerly with Atlas Commerce, the e-business software company that Verticalnet acquired in January.
The company also announced last week that it was seeking to sell its small and medium-sized business unit, the group of vertical marketplaces that had been the company's mainstay during the dot-com boom, when it was known as VerticalNet.
In aggregate, Verticalnet's latest moves reflect the company's move away from the waning e-marketplace business into the enterprise software market, where Atlas Commerce has a foothold in customers like Valvoline and Joy Global with its software that lets companies set up private trading exchanges.
In assuming the chairman post, Mike Hagan succeeds joint Verticalnet co-founder Mark Walsh, who will remain on the company's board but who will devote time to his newly appointed role as chief technology advisor to the Democratic National Committee.
Verticalnet also announced that Satya Nadella, vice president of Microsoft bCentral, has resigned from the Verticalnet board of directors.
