Chinadotcom Announces a New CEO and President

Divesh Sisodraker, who served as Pivotal's CFO for almost three years, has been named president and CEO of Chinadotcom's CRM software division. He takes over the reins formerly held by Bo Manning, who, according to the company, left to pursue other career opportunities. Sisodraker's primary base will be at company headquarters in Vancouver, BC. Following his 18-month stretch as vice president of corporate development, Sisodraker helped to craft Pivotal's strategy and vertical efforts. "Divesh has extensive business expertise and the right mix of skills to grow Pivotal and create value for its customers, partners, employees, and Chinadotcom," says Raymond Ch'ien, executive chairman of Chinadotcom. "Divesh's solid financial experience and in-depth knowledge of the CRM market make him the right leader for the company." Sisodraker tells CRM magazine that Pivotal is "doing a lot of things right," citing the strong momentum that it has built as a profitable company, and says that he anticipates "no dramatic changes" in his strategy for competing in the ever-evolving midmarket. He aims to "better align the field operation in North America to leverage global advantage," to "take the success [Pivotal] had in the States and move through Europe and Asia." Sisodraker also wants to continue to develop the way the company supports its customers--with enhanced technical support and R&D--to further expand its customer centricity, as it had previously done with products like Pivotal 5.1. The newly appointed CEO intends also to focus on microverticals--where, he says, "product differentiation will help us win the day." These include financial services (comprising corporate and commercial lending, asset management, investment and private banking)--sectors in which the company has previously garnered recognition. The March 2004 issue of Global Investor Magazine ranked Pivotal number one in the asset-management industry. According to Sisodraker, Pivotal will also concentrate on microverticals like health insurance, medical-device manufacturing, and homebuilding--two of the six largest homebuilders in the United States are Pivotal customers, and are "generating a buzz there," Sisodraker says. Regarding Chinadotcom's takeover of Pivotal in February 2004, Sisodraker says that Chinadotcom "hit the mark," as the company is back to making investments in the business, increasing both marketing budget and headcount in areas like tech support, R&D, and professional services. Certainly, the hefty balance sheet of the parent company has made Pivotal stronger than it was: "The acquisition has been good for the company."