Mohamad Ali President and CEO, Carbonite

Carbonite, Inc. announced that its board of directors has named Mohamad Ali as the company’s next president and CEO, effective December 3, 2014.

He was also elected to the company’s board of directors.

He succeeds Carbonite co-founder David Friend, who will now serve as executive chairman of the board of directors.

“Mohamad’s compelling track record of leadership, operating expertise and industry vision, across companies big and small, is exactly what we need as Carbonite continues to grow as a provider of cloud and hybrid solutions for businesses everywhere,” said Todd Krasnow, lead independent director and head of the CEO search committee. “On behalf of the board of directors, I am thrilled to welcome Mohamad as the next president and CEO.”

Ali expressed his enthusiasm for working with the company’s board, employees and channel partners: “Carbonite has built a powerful offering,” he said. “We’re poised to capitalize on opportunities to provide cloud and hybrid BC solutions all over the world.“

“I am delighted to turn the reins over to someone of Mohamad’s caliber,” said Friend. “The company has a big future in the rapidly evolving cloud-first landscape, and to seize it we must execute with vision and excellence. Mohamad has the right background and skill set to lead the company as it continues to grow.”

 Ali joins Carbonite from Hewlett-Packard Co., where he served as chief strategy officer, reporting to Meg Whitman, chairman and CEO. Before HP, he served as CEO of the workforce optimization division of Aspect Software. Prior to Aspect, he led Avaya Inc.’s $2 billion global services division as its president, and was additionally responsible for the company’s research labs, strategy and corporate development. He also held senior positions at IBM, including VP of strategy and business development for the information management division, where he acquired numerous companies, including software developer Cognos for $5 billion, to build IBM’s analytics and big data business.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering, a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, all from Stanford University. He serves on the boards of directors of City National Bank, Oxfam America and the MA Technology Leadership Council.

Carbonite announced in February it was starting a search led by independent directors to find a new CEO. Ali’s appointment follows a search process in conjunction with the executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles.