Avaya has confirmed that Kieran McGrath, the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, is set to retire.
The company has announced that Becky Roof, the Managing Director at AlixPartners LLP, has been appointed as interim CFO, with the changes effective from November 9.
It is reported that McGrath will continue with Avaya in an advisory capacity until the start of December as the company aims to ensure a smooth transition.
Alan Masarek, President and Chief Executive Officer of Avaya, commented: “I thank Kieran for his contributions to Avaya, including delaying his retirement to support my transition to the company and wish him all the best in his retirement.
“As we continue positioning the business for the long term, I look forward to benefitting from Becky’s expertise.
“We remain focused on continuing to provide our global customers with outstanding communications solutions and support and investing in our long-range product roadmaps.”
In addition to McGrath’s retirement, Avaya has announced that Shefali Shah, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, will be taking on responsibilities relating to strategic initiatives being implemented by Masarek.
Avaya’s Economic Troubles
McGrath’s retirement comes at a time of great economic uncertainty for Avaya, as the company’s share price has been on the slide for some time amid disappointing quarterly results.
This culminated in the sacking of CEO and long-time servant Jim Chirico at the end of July, paving the way for the appointment of Masarek.
Chirico was praised for guiding Avaya out of its last turbulent period when it entered and exited Chapter 11 before listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018.
Avaya reported its first year of revenue growth in over a decade in November 2021 as it transformed into a cloud-first company.
At first, it appeared that this transformation was going well; however, in May 2022, the company saw its growth stall for the second consecutive quarter.
Chirico put the halt in progress down to a delay in several big deals, which included a $400m CCaaS deal with a financial Institution that Avaya revealed in February 2022.
The vendor did not disclose its complete Q3 figures due to the sacking of Chirico; however, it did publish some daunting numbers at the time of the ousting.
Avaya admitted that sales could miss its guidance of up to $580m by as much as $125m.
This prompted the company to reveal plans that it is aiming to cut costs to save between $225m and $250m annually.
As a result of this cost-cutting, Avaya started axing jobs in September, but it did not reveal how many roles were under threat.
Avaya’s financial situation becomes even more complicated due to the company previously raising $600m to support an “acceleration of business model transformation”.
Looking to the Future
In August, UC Today sat down with Zeus Kerravala, Founder and Principal Analyst at ZK Research, shortly after the news broke of its Q3 earnings results and change of CEO.
Kerravala was optimistic about Avaya’s chances of returning from its financial low point and expressed confidence in Masarek’s ability to take the company forward.
Despite its financial troubles, Avaya took the opportunity at Gitex 2022 in Dubai to showcase what is coming up for the company in 2023 and beyond.
At the event, Avaya promised a roadmap which is “full of innovation”, delved into its partnership with Honeywell to deliver smart cities, and showcased how it is preparing customers for the metaverse.
The company stated that it is focusing on “innovation without disruption” as a big part of its upcoming strategy.
