SugarCRM Names New CEO
CRM vendor says Craig Charlton’s experience, passion, and expertise can take it to ‘next level’
Cupertino, California-based SugarCRM has appointed software veteran Craig Charlton its new CEO. He succeeds Larry Augustin, who will now be chairman of the board of directors.
The Lowdown: Charlton joins SugarCRM with 25-plus years of experience building and running high-growth businesses in the software industry. He served as CEO at Oildex, a provider of financial automation software and services for the oil and gas market, where he helped the company grow its bookings 150 percent and attract an acquirer in Drillinginfo.
Before Oildex, Charlton was CEO of Abila, a provider of financial and CRM software and services to associations, nonprofit organizations, and governmental entities. There, he grew revenue threefold and helped the company transform its business model into one based on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) over the course of just three years.
And prior to that, Charlton was senior vice president and general manager for Asia Pacific at Epicor Software Corp., an ERP solution provider, where he achieved consistent revenue and profit growth by executing on the company’s regional strategy.
The Details: As chairman of the board of directors, Charlton’s predecessor, Augustin, will remain actively involved in the company by assisting with long-term strategy and customer evangelism. During his time as CEO of SugarCRM, the company’s revenue grew tenfold, and it established itself as a leading CRM disruptor with more than 5,000 customers and 2 million users in 120-plus countries.
The Buzz: “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 CRM systems make him an extraordinary fit for SugarCRM.”
“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.”
