Software intelligence company Dynatrace (NYSE: DT) and its Board of Directors today announced that its CEO and Director, John Van Siclen, plans to retire effective December 13, 2021. Rick McConnell, currently President and GM, Security Technology Group at Akamai Technologies, has been appointed as the Company’s new CEO and Director, effective December 13, 2021. Mr. Van Siclen will remain as a consultant to the Company through May 31, 2022 to facilitate the CEO transition.
John Van Siclen has led Dynatrace since 2008, from a $5 million start-up to a modern cloud observability leader that is now approaching $1 billion in annual recurring revenue. Under his leadership, after a successful reinvention of its SaaS platform and business model, Dynatrace went public on the NYSE in the summer of 2019. Since then, Dynatrace continues to thrive and perform as one of the top IPOs of the 2019 class and one of the top Boston technology IPOs of the past 25 years.
John commented, “We have built Dynatrace into a durable, high-growth business. We have a fantastic team, a keen focus on customer success, and an incredible organic innovation engine. After 13 amazing years leading this great company, it’s time for me to move on to the next phase in my life. The foundation is in place that makes it the right time for a new CEO to lead the company through its next phase of growth and market leadership, and Rick brings the scale, go-to-market expertise and cultural fit to do just that.”
“We are so proud of the company’s accomplishments under John’s leadership,” said Jill Ward, Chair of the Dynatrace Board of Directors. “The board has supported John’s interest in retiring and, after a thorough search, we found a new leader ideally suited to take Dynatrace forward. Today, we are thrilled to announce the appointment of Rick McConnell as Dynatrace’s incoming CEO.”
Rick has served as President of Akamai for most of his ten years at the company. During his tenure, Akamai has grown from just over $1 billion to nearly $3.5 billion in revenue. Rick initially served as President, Products and Development, followed by President and General Manager of the Web Division, a role spanning products as well as global sales. Rick grew Akamai’s security business from a few million dollars of revenue in 2011 to a $1.3+ billion business growing 25% annually. Prior to Akamai, he was part of the early leadership team that built Cisco’s multibillion-dollar Communications and Collaboration business. Rick joined Cisco when the company acquired Latitude Communications, where he was CEO.
“I am excited to join Dynatrace as its next CEO,” said Rick McConnell. “Digital transformation is ubiquitous, and there is so much runway ahead. Dynatrace has a strong, growing, and differentiated leadership position in observability and is now entering the application security business, representing a dynamic adjacency with enormous potential. I am very much looking forward to leading Dynatrace through its next chapter of growth.”
Chair of the Board Jill Ward said, “We thank John for his many years of leadership. As we go forward, we are confident in a smooth transition and Dynatrace’s continued success with Rick as our next CEO.”
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