05 Jan 2004
- Evolving Systems Announces Management Changes
Company Strengthens Management and Sales Teams To More Aggressively Pursue Growth Opportunities
ENGLEWOOD, Colorado - Evolving Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ-EVOL), a provider of innovative software solutions for operations and systems integration to many of the largest communications companies in the U.S., today announced four key changes to its management and sales teams.
Stephen Gartside Appointed Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board
of Directors
As announced during Q4 2003 and effective January 1, 2004, Stephen Gartside,
formerly executive vice president of sales and operations, was elevated to
the position of chief executive officer and member of the board of directors.
Including Gartside, the board is now comprised of two internal and four independent
directors. Gartside, 38, succeeds former CEO George Hallenbeck, who will remain
with the Company in two key roles. Gartside is a growth-oriented executive
with more than 15 years of diversified telecommunications industry experience.
After joining Evolving Systems in 2001, Gartside was the primary architect
of the Company's successful restructuring and transition to a solutions-based
business model - both of which were key contributors to Evolving Systems' strong
financial performance over the past 12 months. He was also instrumental in
the successful acquisition of CMS Communications - the first example of the
Company's M&A strategy. Prior to joining Evolving Systems, Gartside held
senior level management and sales positions with such companies as Terabeam,
Stratus Computers, NCR and AT&T Global Information Solutions.
George Hallenbeck Appointed Chief Technology Officer
Also effective January 1, 2004, George Hallenbeck, 61, has been appointed to
the position of chief technology officer - a role he has informally filled
for many years. In addition, Hallenbeck will remain as chairman of the board.
Hallenbeck, a founder and the largest individual shareholder of Evolving
Systems, will allocate significantly more time to the technology side of
the business.
"I am delighted with the appointment of Stephen Gartside as my successor in the CEO role," Hallenbeck said. "With his proven track record at Evolving Systems, and his breadth of experience and industry knowledge, he is the ideal person to take Evolving Systems to the next level of growth. This change also allows me to focus more time and attention on the technical side of our business, evaluating both promising new technologies as well as ways of continuously improving our ability to deliver solutions to our customers that meet their needs exactly at the lowest possible cost."
John Cullen Appointed Senior Vice President Corporate Development
John Cullen has been appointed to the new position of senior vice president
corporate development effective January 1, 2004. Cullen, 37, was previously
the founder and CEO of CMS Communications, which was acquired by Evolving
Systems in November 2003. While at CMS, Cullen directed all corporate development
activities, which resulted in the completion of four acquisitions. Cullen,
who has 14 years of executive management and related experience, began his
career with Andersen Consulting. He later co-founded POV Partners, where
he provided strategic direction and oversaw consulting operations, including
management of the venture processes, corporate development, strategic planning
and operations management. POV was later acquired by Whittman-Hart, which
Cullen joined as a partner. There, he led a regional consulting unit and
served as a member of the firm's strategic expansion committee, directing,
among other projects, the Company's largest acquisition.
"John Cullen has spent his entire career helping to develop fast-growing enterprises and has a passion for the M&A side of the business," said Gartside. "He has experience leveraging M&A activity in growing businesses and has a proven capability for identifying and closing acquisitions in the telecommunications industry. Those skills will be crucial to his new role directing Evolving Systems' M&A strategy.
"As we have announced previously, our profitable growth strategy depends on both organic growth from our existing product and solutions portfolio combined with smart M&A growth," Gartside added. "We continue to believe the current financial and telecommunications environments offer excellent opportunities to acquire revenue-producing assets that dovetail with our solutions business model. Under John's direction, we expect to aggressively pursue opportunities where the application of our solutions model in combination with our low-cost offshore development capability can quickly result in strong financial performance from an acquired entity."
Barrett Blank Appointed Vice President of Sales and Business Development
Barrett Blank, 43, joins Evolving Systems as vice president of sales and business
development effective January 8, 2004. Blank, who has 20 years of sales,
marketing and management experience with large and small companies, will
assume responsibility for Evolving Systems' customer focused sales and new
business development teams. Among Blank's prior assignments are the positions
of vice president of sales, service and strategic alliances with Procurepoint,
Inc.; senior vice president and general manager of operations, sales and
marketing with Commerce One; and senior vice president of sales of Computer
Associates International, Inc.
"These changes and additions to our management team better position Evolving Systems to pursue steady, long-term growth and profitability," Gartside said. "With our restructuring plan completed and an effective new business model in place, we have been generating excellent financial results while at the same time creating cost effective solutions that meet our tier one communications carrier customers' specific and often unique requirements. This has given us the momentum to more aggressively pursue profitable growth. I am very pleased to add two strong new executives to roles critical to the Company's growth, profitability and continued success in 2004 and beyond."
The complete list of Evolving Systems' executive officers include Stephen Gartside, CEO; Brian Ervine, CFO and SVP; George Hallenbeck, CTO; Anita Moseley, General Counsel and SVP; John Cullen, SVP Corporate Development; Joe Murray, VP Software Development; Barrett Blank, VP Sales and Business Development; and Shane Furlong, Principal and VP.
About Evolving Systems®
Evolving Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVOL) provides innovative software solutions
for operations and systems integration to many of the largest communications
companies in the U.S. The Company provides local number portability solutions,
offers software products that enable carriers to comply with the FCC's number
conservation mandates intended to extend the life of the North American Numbering
Plan, and offers solutions in the area of network management for monitoring
and capacity planning. The Company's ServiceXpress™ methodology and
offering is used to accelerate development and integration efforts. Evolving
Systems' unique competence as an integration and solutions provider for both
operations support systems (OSS) and network solutions positions the Company
to accelerate the automation and availability of tomorrow's services for
today's tier one carriers and application service providers. For additional
information visit www.evolving.com
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, based on current
expectations, estimates and projections that are subject to risk. Specifically,
the Company's statements about revenue and profitability guidance, the revenue
the Company expects to realize from the announced order bookings, and the approximate
date for release of 2003 financial results are forward-looking statements.
Readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
Actual results could differ materially because of the timing of delivery under
the Company's contracts; internal budgeting changes of customers; unexpected
costs and delays in, or failure to meet, project milestones; the impact of
competition, and the general state of the telecommunications industry. For
a more extensive discussion of the Company's business, please refer to the
Company's Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 28, 2003 as well as subsequently
filed Form 10-Q and 8-K reports.
CONTACTS:
Investor Relations
Jay Pfeiffer
Pfeiffer High Investor Relations, Inc.
303.393.7044
jay@pfeifferhigh.com
Public Relations Contact (Americas)
Dan La Russo
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
212.880.5315
dan.larusso@ogilvypr.com
