Shakeup at Salesforce.com
Several senior executive left Salesforce.com this week, a sign that the maker of online software may not escape the recession hitting tech companies.
Steve Cakebread, Salesforce.com’s president and chief strategy officer, resigned on February 1, according to an SEC filing. Cakebread joined the company in 2002, and served as its CFO until 2008. Two top sales executives, Gary Hanna and Dave Orrico, also left the company. Hanna’s departure was previously reported by Reuters.
Salesforce.com makes customer management software that workers access over the Internet through a Web browser. Businesses pay Salesforce.com a monthly subscription fee; traditional software that a business installs itself typically requires an upfront payment and investments in new computer hardware. Because it doesn’t require large capital investments, some people have speculated that online software companies might be better positioned to weather the downturn.
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