CrossWorlds Software Inc which is possibly more famous for its founder Katrina Garnett’s little back dress than its enterprise application integration software, has hired Fred Amoroso, an IBM Corp top gun, to replace Garnett as its president and CEO. He takes on the challenge of establishing struggling CrossWorlds in the market and taking it public […]
CrossWorlds Software Inc which is possibly more famous for its founder Katrina Garnett’s little back dress than its enterprise application integration software, has hired Fred Amoroso, an IBM Corp top gun, to replace Garnett as its president and CEO. He takes on the challenge of establishing struggling CrossWorlds in the market and taking it public while Garnett becomes chairman of the board. Amoroso was previously general manager of IBM’s $7bn Asia Pacific Global Services group.
CrossWorlds attracted much attention when Garnett appeared in a $1m corporate advertising campaign wearing a skimpy cocktail dress, but it did little to stimulate CrossWorlds’ business and the buzz surrounding the campaign soon wore off. Having raised $90m funding – including a $25m mezzanine round last week – CrossWorlds laid off 9% of its staff at the end of last year reducing headcount 210. It reportedly had ten customers at that time. Meantime it has burned through a small fortune while having to watch competitors including New Era of Networks, TSI Software International, Active Software and Vitria Technology all gain public listings on the market. Amoroso reportedly gets options on 7 million CrossWorlds shares, representing a 7% stake.
