GTT Communications, a managed network and security services provider, is bringing a Lumen Technologies veteran to the helm. The company announced Thursday it hired Ed Morche as its new CEO and board director.
Morche joins GTT as current chief executive Ernest Ortega steps down from his post after four years. At Lumen, he served as president of the North America Enterprise and Public Sector division, where he managed a direct team of 3,200 employees across sales, solutions architecture, business development and more.
Morche held other senior leadership roles at the company when it was still known as CenturyLink. Some of his previous titles include Group VP of Regional and Government Enterprise as well as President of Strategic Enterprise and Government Markets.
“We are delighted to welcome Ed as we look to a bright future as a managed network services and security provider serving global multinational enterprises,” said Tony Abate, GTT’s executive chairman of the board, in a statement.
“His deep industry experience, long-standing commitment to service delivery excellence, and proven track record of empowering and inspiring teams make him an ideal choice to continue to drive the company forward,” Abate said.
GTT touts its IP backbone spans more than 260 cities across the globe, with more than 600 points of presence in six continents. At the same time, GTT has faced a rough couple of years managing its debt after an aggressive acquisition spree, which eventually resulted in the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2021.
GTT eventually exited bankruptcy on January 3, 2023. Then-CEO Ortega told Fierce he expects 2023 “will be a year of recovery” after the company repositioned itself to “really focus” on managed SD-WAN and SASE offerings.
A report the Information Services Group (ISG) published in June named GTT as one of the top U.S. providers of managed SD-WAN, claiming it “delivers vendor agnostic, customer-specific SD-WAN solutions effectively with simple management.”
According to GTT, Ortega is leaving the company “well positioned for continued growth.”
“The board would like to sincerely thank Ernie for his contributions to GTT over the past four years,” Abate stated. “During that time, Ernie was instrumental in transforming the company in numerous ways.”