New CEO for Lithium Technologies

In the US, social media management and online community solutions provider Lithium Technologies has appointed Pete Hess as Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Rob Tarkoff.

Lithium provides 'social customer relationship management' (SCRM) solutions, to enable clients to create and manage their own social media customer networks, while its Lithium Insights analytics tool measures and benchmarks the 'health' of online communities. Last summer, the company was acquired by Vista Equity Partners, which also owns brand and pricing intelligence specialist Market Track, online survey technology firm Cvent, agricultural data and analytics specialist AGDATA, and cloud-based marketing software developer Marketo. Shortly after the takeover, Lithium acquired Jive Software's external communities business, Jive-x.

Hess (pictured) previously worked at Advent Software, where as CEO he led the organization until it was acquired in 2015. After this, he was a Senior Advisor for Vista Equity Partners and served on the Lithium Board of Directors. He replaces Tarkoff, who says that after almost six and a half years running Lithium, 'it is the right time for the next leader to join this business'.

Alan Cline, co-Head of the Vista Foundation Fund and Lithium Board Member, stated: 'We are delighted that Pete will join Lithium as CEO in the quest to become the leading digital customer experience company. Pete's strong history of leading high performing teams and his long-standing belief in the importance of customer-centric innovation make him a great choice for Chief Executive as we continue to grow the business and deliver on our customers' needs'.

Web site: www.lithium.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.