Former Sage execs in demand by ambitious channel players

There must be a certain quality possessed by former executives at Sage that is attractive to those in the channel looking for advice when planning their next stage of growth.

Last week, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Softomotive appointed former Sage CEO Guy Berruyer as chairman of the board.

The firm had doubled its headcount in the last year and was looking to lean on Berruyer's expertise to help keep that growth coming. In his time at Sage he helped the firm move to a subscription model and embrace the cloud. "Softomotive is transforming extremely fast and part of my role as Chairman is to act as a mentor, so I'm looking forward to sharing my experience," he said.

Just a matter of days later and Newcastle-based Notify Technology has also turned to a former Sage executive, this time in the form of Jayne Archbold to become chair as it also looks for growth.

The plan is to lean on her expertise to help formulate plans to expand internationally. She spent 18 years at Sage, most recently as CEO of its mid-market European division. Archbold is currently CEO of Swedish-based software firm Iptor Supply Chain Systems and also a Non-Executive Director of HR software firm Saberr.

Notify specialises in the health and safety software segment and armed with more experience selling internationally is aiming to make more of an impact outside the UK.

"Jayne is a proven technology leader. Her understanding of the compliance software market and experience of working within high growth companies across international boundaries will help us to drive the business forward," said Duncan Davies, CEO of Notify Technology.

Archbold said that the timing of her decision to join the business came at a point where it was looking to do exciting things internationally and she could bring her experience to bear.