* A look at recent personnel moves in the IdM industry
Changes. The old French proverb (plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose) states that the more things change, the more they stay the same. But two announcements last week auger big changes — and things won’t be the same again.
In a big move, Gerry Gebel, Burton Group vice president and service director of Identity and Privacy Strategies, announced that he’s leaving the analyst firm to set up the new offices for European security firm Axiomatics’s expansion into the U.S. market. For details, see John Fontana’s story in Network World. Gebel does say, though, that this move was in the works before the recent acquisition of the Burton Group by Gartner.
Ironically, Fontana made his own announcement, which would have been the big news except for Gebel’s move. After many years at Network World, Fontana is, in his words, “going over to the other side” as he joins internet identity security and single sign-on vendor Ping Identity.
Fontana, Gebel and I have often crossed paths over the past dozen years at events large and small. Both have shown up in this newsletter from time to time. Gebel’s research and reports,Fontana’s stories and reporting have made my job easier over the years. They always have the time — and the inclination — to share their knowledge. I will, of course, count on that to continue.
There are also major changes at the Kantara Initiative. Less often did my path cross that of Brett McDowell, even as he rose through the ranks to become executive director of the Kantara Initiative (formerly the Liberty Alliance) over the past six years. I’ll probably see him more frequently in his new digs — at PayPal — where he’ll join a potent identity team. McDowell leaves just after his marketing director at Kantara, Britta Glade, flew the coop to join RSA in analyst relations (so I’ll see more of her in the future, also).
By the way, as of this writing Kantara Initiative is still looking for a new executive director. A faithful reader of this newsletter would be just what the organization needs.
It’s too soon to tell what the full impact of these changes will be. It may be a while, even years, before the dust settles. But I don’t think these are the only major changes we’ll see this year. Oracle’s acquisition of Sun and Gartner’s acquisition of the Burton Group should drive more musical chairs before the dawn of 2011.
