Howard Bain Interim CEO, Violin Memory

Violin Memory, Inc. announced that Howard A. Bain III, chairman of the Violin Memory board of directors, has been appointed interim CEO, effective immediately.

His appointment follows the decision of the board of directors to terminate Donald Basile as CEO.

Bain will remain COB.

The board of directors has initiated a search process and retained an executive search firm to identify a permanent CEO.

 Bain, who has served as Violin Memory’s chairman since August 2013 and as a member of the board since October 2012, brings to the company over 40 years of operational, financial and leadership expertise, having served as CFO at several public companies, including Portal Software, Inc., Vicinity Corporation, Informix Corporation and Symantec Corporation. He has industry experience having served in senior management positions at various technology companies in the areas of semiconductor devices and manufacturing equipment, laser-based large screen projection systems, and computer disk drives. In addition, he has served as a consultant on corporate governance issues since 2004, and is a Governance Fellow with the National Association of Corporate Directors. He serves on the board of directors of Nanometrics, Inc., Learning Tree International, Inc., as well as Nok Nok Labs, Inc., a private venture capital financed company.

He holds a B.S. in Business Administration from California Polytechnic University.

David Walrod, chairman of the nominating and corporate governance committee of the board of directors, said: “The board believes this leadership change is necessary to enhance the management team’s operational focus and ability to execute the company’s plans for profitable growth. We are, however, fortunate to have someone with Howard’s extensive operational, financial and leadership experience ready to assume the role of interim CEO at this important juncture for the company. During his time as director of Violin Memory, Howard has gained a deep understanding of the company’s products, customers, strategy and management team, as well as the significant growth opportunities in the enterprise memory market. We are confident that he is the right person to lead Violin Memory while we search for a permanent replacement to fill the CEO role.”

“Violin Memory is focused on maintaining the operational flexibility to manage through the emerging dynamics of our industry, with financial resources on hand to achieve our objectives. While our fundamental strategy to drive growth remains unchanged, we will pursue additional tactical initiatives to improve the overall cost efficiency of the business and improve sales leverage through our partner and indirect channels. We have a robust product roadmap in place that positions us well to take advantage of the transition to a memory-based data center and build an even stronger future for all of our stakeholders,” said -Bain. “Having served as COB, I am well aware of the many opportunities ahead and look forward to engaging with the company’s customers, team members and shareholders in the coming weeks. Most importantly, I am confident in our team’s ability to execute and provide our customers with the high level of support and service that they have come to expect from us.“