SAN FRANCISCO — October 17, 2001 — Linuxcare,
Inc., a provider of Linux products and services to enterprises,
today announced the appointment of Avery Lyford as its new chief
executive officer (CEO) and president. Lyford succeeds co-founder
Arthur F. Tyde, III, who will remain on the board of directors.
Lyford will lead the company as it begins an accelerated period of
growth and launches a new group of Linux-based products for the
Global 2000.
“Linuxcare has earned a well-deserved reputation for providing
consistent, comprehensive, and cost-effective Linux services to
enterprise customers,” said Lyford. “I am excited to join a company
that is playing such an important role in helping to make Linux a
viable and successful platform in the enterprise. As CEO, I look
forward to complementing Linuxcare’s comprehensive custom solution
development with an exciting new group of products, so that we can
offer our corporate customers a complete Linux platform.”
Lyford has nearly two decades of experience in the technology
industry. He was most recently a consultant at McKinsey and
Company’s Business Building Practice, where he provided overall
strategic direction, and product marketing and strategic sales
advice for client companies building businesses in enterprise
software. Previously, he was CEO of Athena Communications Systems,
a wide-area networking and telecommunications firm, where he
successfully raised $25 million in private equity. Lyford also
served as an executive at IBM, where he led a successful effort to
dramatically grow the Netfinity server revenue. He holds a master’s
in computer engineering from Florida Atlantic University and a
bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University.
“Avery Lyford brings an important combination of strategic
vision and product management acumen to Linuxcare’s management
team,” said Art Tyde, Linuxcare’s co-founder. “There is a
tremendous market opportunity for Linux enterprise solutions right
now, thanks in large part to IBM’s impressive commitment to making
Linux work for companies. Avery has proven that he knows how to
deliver for corporate customers, and as CEO, we expect he will use
those same skills both to strengthen Linuxcare’s relationships with
our clients and to attract new customers. We welcome him on
board.”
Linuxcare provides Linux-based services and solutions to large
corporations. Its enterprise customers include IBM, Intel,
Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, KPMG, and Motorola. The company
is backed by solid investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield
& Byers and Apax Partners (formerly Patricof & Co.
Ventures).
“Linuxcare’s strong reputation in the industry and its
customer-driven focus speak for themselves-and are the major
reasons why we continue to be so bullish on this company,” said Ted
Schlein, a partner at Kleiner Perkins and chairman of Linuxcare’s
board. “As Linuxcare begins a new phase of growth and expands
offerings for its enterprise customers, Avery Lyford’s stellar
experience in delivering innovative products to world-class
customers makes him the perfect fit for our needs.”