Citrix Systems appoints new CEO

Citrix Systems announced today the appointment of David J. Henshall as president, CEO and member of the board.

Henshall was the company’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer. He replaces Kirill Tatarinov, who was appointed Citrix CEO in January 2016.

“On behalf of the entire Citrix board, I want to thank Kirill for his leadership.The progress we made under his leadership has positioned Citrix well for the next phase of its corporate transformation,” Henshall said.

Citrix said it is committed to operational efficiency and value creation, which includes a series of strategic initiatives intended to drive operating margin expansion, increase capital return and facilitate further investment in accelerating Citrix’s transformation to a cloud-based subscription business and in high-growth areas, such as data security and analytics services.

“David is a proven leader who knows our company inside and out, and the board has the utmost confidence in him,” said executive chairman of the Citrix board, Robert Calderoni.

Citrix will announce more details on the upcoming second quarter earnings call on 2 August.

 “We have a talented team at Citrix, and I am honored to lead Citrix through this new chapter. We have created an impressive platform of best-in-class products and services that customers and partners rely on every day to embrace the future of work. I can assure you that we will continue to deliver and innovate for our customers and partners as we move forward as a more powerful Citrix,” Henshall said.

Citrix Q2 revealed a year-over-year double-digit increase in deferred revenue, according to Henshall.

“Broad-based demand from customers for Citrix Cloud and other subscription solutions was strong, demonstrating the value of the innovation we are delivering to customers and partners.”

Senior vice president, finance, Mark M. Coyle, has been appointed interim CFO.

Citrix reaffirmed guidance for the second quarter of fiscal year 2017 ended 30 June 2017. Revenue for the quarter is expected to be in line with the company’s current guidance of US$685 million to US$695 million with strong demand from customers for subscription-based solutions.

The top leadership changes come after, closer to home, Citrix Australia's appointment of Brian McColm as director of channel for Australia and New Zealand, replacing Belinda Jurisic who left the company in March.