Kevin DeNuccio CEO, Violin Memory

Violin Memory, Inc. announced that its board of directors has appointed Kevin A. DeNuccio as president and CEO, effective immediately.

He has also been elected to the board of directors.

He succeeds Howard A. Bain III, who was serving as interim CEO and will remain chairman of the board of directors.

 DeNuccio, 54, brings to Violin more than 25 years of executive and board experience building, managing and growing technology businesses. Most recently, he managed Wild West Capital LLC, an angel investing, management and technology consulting firm he co-founded in 2012. From 2010 to 2012, he served as the chief executive of Metaswitch Networks, a London, UK-based, privately-held provider of IP and telecommunications software, where he led the company’s global expansion, refreshed its product portfolio and oversaw two acquisitions.

Prior to Metaswitch, he served as president and CEO of Redback Networks, a publicly-traded provider of edge routers that was acquired by Ericsson for $2.1 billion. During his tenure, he led a financial restructuring and major turnaround that took the company from significant losses in 2001 to achieving profitability and expanding its market capitalization nearly fourfold. Additionally, he has held executive positions with Bell Atlantic Network Integration, Cisco Systems, Wang Laboratories and Unisys Corporation.

DeNuccio currently serves on the boards of SanDisk Corporation, Calix, Inc., Metaswitch Networks and Northeastern University.

He earned a master’s degree in business administration from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Northeastern University.

“Kevin DeNuccio has an outstanding track record within the technology industry of achieving profitable growth and creating significant value,” said Howard A. Bain III, chairman of the Violin Memory board of directors. “His experience transforming businesses by developing deep client and channel relationships, rapidly scaling operations and cultivating talent will be invaluable to Violin as we focus on building a strong future for all our stakeholders.”

“I am very excited to join Violin and I look forward to working closely with such a talented and dedicated team to drive the enterprise transition to a flash-based storage infrastructure,” said DeNuccio. “With market-leading products and technology, great customers and growing partnerships, Violin has a strong foundation in place and I am confident in our ability to create significant shareholder value.”

“We are pleased to welcome a chief executive of Kevin DeNuccio’s caliber to lead the Violin team,” said David Walrod, chairman of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees of the Violin Memory board of directors. “Kevin’s wealth of industry experience and deep insights will be a great addition to the board. We look forward to working closely with him to execute our strategy to deliver profitable growth and drive value for all Violin shareholders.”

“On behalf of the Violin Board, I want to express our deep appreciation for Howard’s service as interim CEO,” added Walrod. “His stewardship of the company during the last month and a half has enabled the board to focus on successfully conducting its search for a permanent CEO.”