SoftwareOne appoints Raphael Erb as new CRO

25-year company veteran to lead global revenue operations amid ongoing restructuring at software reseller

Software and cloud solutions reseller SoftwareOne has named Raphael Erb as its new chief revenue officer and executive board member, effective July 1, 2024.

Erb will succeed Rohit Nagarajan, who is departing the company.

With over 25 years at SoftwareOne, Erb brings extensive experience to the role, the reseller said.

Most recently, he served as president of Asia Pacific, the company's fastest-growing region.

His previous positions include head of services for German-speaking markets and country lead for Switzerland and Singapore.

Erb, a Swiss national currently based in Singapore, began his SoftwareOne career in 1999 as a sales team leader.

In his new executive board position, Erb will oversee SoftwareOne's global revenue operations.

Daniel von Stockar, SoftwareOne's chairman of the board, expressed confidence in Erb's appointment: "Raphael's industry expertise and deep understanding of our global markets make him ideal for driving our growth strategy and implementing our go-to-market model."

CEO Brian Duffy also added: "We thank Rohit for his valuable contributions in establishing our go-to-market model and wish him success in his future endeavours."

Erb commented on his new role: "I'm thrilled to take on this position at SoftwareOne. Working with our talented global teams, I'll focus on fostering growth by helping our clients maximise the benefits of cloud, data, and AI technologies."

Restructuring under way

The announcement comes as the Swiss reseller has been undergoing restructuring from the top down.

In April, despite earlier support from proxy firms Ethos, Glass Lewis, Inrate, and ISS for the existing board, founding shareholders voted to appoint a new board of directors, aligning with the proposals of the company's founding shareholders.

In a board reset, Daniel von Stockar was re-elected as chairman. New directors Andrea Sieber, René Gilli, Jörg Riboni, and Till Spillmann were appointed for one-year terms until the 2025 AGM. Sieber and Gilli were also elected to the nomination and compensation committee.

This overhaul follows an intervention by SoftwareOne's founding shareholders - von Stockar, Gilli, and B. Curti Holding AG - who had called for board-level changes.

The AGM also re-appointed Anwaltskanzlei Keller AG as independent proxy and Ernst & Young AG as auditor for one-year terms. Shareholders approved maximum aggregate compensation for the new board until 2025 and for the executive team in 2025.

This leadership transition marked a significant shift in SoftwareOne's governance structure, reflecting the will of its shareholders despite contrary recommendations from prominent proxy advisory firms.