Irvine-based Sage Software Inc., a 600-employee division of Britain’s Sage Group plc, is getting a new boss whose aim is to keep growing the company’s U.S. operations.
Ronald Verni has been promoted to the newly created position of chief executive and president of Sage’s U.S. operations. David R. Butler, head of Sage Software in Irvine, will remain president and chief operating officer of the unit and report to Verni.
Verni said he’ll be making Atlanta his home base, but he will be spending a week each month in Irvine. In 1996, Sage acquired Peachtree Software Inc., where Verni has been president and chief executive for the past five years.
The move is part of a restructuring of Sage’s four U.S. units, which previously reported directly to the company’s headquarters in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Now the operations in Atlanta, Dallas and Reston, Va., as well as Sage Software, report to Verni.
“Our goal is to grow these businesses,” Verni said. “Some people assume that a reorganization means some sort of consolidation, but that isn’t the case. It’s an opportunity for everybody. We’re looking for people.”
Last year, Sage expanded its operation in Irvine by adding another 68,000 square feet for a total of 167,000 square feet. The Irvine office creates much of Sage’s software for accounting services.
Verni’s appointment is another notch in Sage’s big play for smaller businesses. The company is one of the leading providers of accounting, payroll and other business management software for small and medium-size businesses, with some 2.3 million customers. Altogether, Sage’s U.S. divisions generate $300 million in annual revenue and employ 1,900. The Irvine operation was State of the Art Inc. before Sage acquired it in 1998.
Sage Software’s Irvine office makes and distributes the company’s key products, such as its leading MAS 90 accounting software. It also has a new product, Sage Enterprise Suite, targeted at companies in the $25 million to $250 million revenue range.
Recently, Sage Software announced the release of Sage BusinessWorks Gold, a new platform of BusinessWorks designed to help a business owner with up to 50 employees improve productivity and profitability and move into electronic business.
“The business functions will remain as they are,” said Verni. “We’re setting up a virtual U.S. presence.” n
