Casa Systems (NASDAQ: CASA) named the heir to its corporate throne, selecting well-known telecom veteran Michael Glickman as its new CEO. The announcement comes just four months after the company announced the retirement of founder and CEO Jerry Guo in March.
Glickman will take the reins from interim CEO Edward Durkin on August 1.
If Glickman’s name sounds familiar, it’s probably because he spent over two decades as an executive at Cisco, most recently serving as SVP for the company’s Global Service Provider segment. According to his LinkedIn profile, his previous positions at Cisco included leadership roles in sales and marketing, Cisco’s Cloud and Managed Services division and strategic partnerships.
After leaving Cisco in 2020, Glickman took up a role as President of network-as-a-service company PacketFabric. He left that role for the CEO position at Casa Systems.
In his new role, Glickman is tasked with renewing Casa Systems’ growth globally. His appointment comes at a key moment of transition for Casa.
The departure of ex-CEO Guo in March came as something of a surprise, causing Casa Systems’ stock to take a nosedive. Guo had founded the company in 2003 and served as CEO for the 20 years leading to his retirement. But his exit came shortly after Casa revealed a major Tier-1 customer would not be working with the company on a major network upgrade. Dell’Oro Group analyst Jeff Heynen previously told Silverlinings the customer was believed to be cable operator Charter Communications and that he expected the company to turn its focus away from the cable market.
Aside from cable, Casa Systems also serves the Cloud, Access Device and RAN markets.
Bruce Evans, Casa Systems’ Board Chairman, said in a statement the board “believes Michael’s global sales leadership skills and industry experience strongly align with Casa Systems’ strategic priorities as we embark on the next phase of accelerated growth. With a proven track record of leading billion-dollar revenue businesses and spearheading global sales organizations focused on service providers, including telcos and cable MSOs, Michael brings a unique set of qualifications that position him for success in his role.”