Irvine, Calif. (May 20, 2004) -- In a move that marks the solidification of recently acquired business management software maker Accpac International into the Best Software family, Accpac chief executive David Hood announced that he will leave the company at the end of June.
When Accpac's acquisition by Best was announced late last year, it was thought that Hood, who served at the company’s helm since 1999, would stay on until at least the end of this year. Instead, he decided it was “appropriate to step out of the way.”
“It started to become clear that while I wanted to ensure an effective transition and that the process was smooth for everyone, for me it was like my job was done and I thought it was time to move on,” Hood said. “It was very satisfying to cradle my baby in a comfortable space and put it somewhere where it fits.”
Hood said he won't give his planned keynote address at Best’s upcoming Insights 2004 reseller conference in June, as he felt it best for the Accpac channel to “consume the new information [at the conference] and continue with the cycle.”
With Hood stepping down, former Accpac senior vice president of marketing Susan Sheridan assumes the role of general manager of Accpac, which is now officially a Best Software business unit.
Best has made 17 separate acquisitions throughout its corporate life. Last year it divided its product lines into two separate divisions: small business and midmarket. Each division has separate business units with general managers who oversee them.
In addition, Sheridan’s business unit will include the BusinessVision product line, obtained last year by Best’s U.K.-based parent, Sage Group plc, when it purchased Softline Software. As such, BusinessVision president Murray Aston will report to Sheridan, who admits her new role will be challenging on a number of levels.
“One of the best things about taking this job is that I inherit the great team David [Hood] has built and retained, but now we need to focus on how we will be integrating more with Best,” Sheridan said. “Change is difficult. This is a big, well-running machine and you can’t change things too fast, even though I would like to do things as quickly as possible.”
During his tenure, Hood developed key strategic alliances with companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Red Hat and SuSe Linux. An IPO was initiated by Hood and filed with the Securities Exchange Commission prior to the ultimate sale of Accpac to Sage on March 8, 2004.
-- Seth Fineberg
