CA Names Temp Chief

Executives have moved quickly to steady the good ship Computer Associates International Inc. (CA) (NYSE: CA), after the tremors from the companys accounting scandal reached the boardroom last week (see CA CEO Resigns).

CA has restated certain financials for fiscal year 2000 and 2001 after a report from the company’s Audit Committee found that a total of $2.2 billion of revenue was booked prematurely by quarter. And it’s all change at the top. The Islandia, N.Y., firm today appointed Kenneth D. Cron as interim CEO and Jeff Clarke as COO.

With CA’s accounting practices still under investigation, this is the company’s latest attempt to boost confidence amongst shareholders and customers. Earlier this month, the SEC alleged in court that three former CA executives took part in accounting fraud during 1999 and 2000 by back-dating contracts to meet financial targets.

CA is obviously keen to put its house in order prior to its annual CA World Conference, which will be taking place in Las Vegas next month. The company is a major provider of systems management software, notably on the mainframes and servers that form the processing power in many data centers.

With the search for a long-term CEO ongoing, the company’s R&D, technology services, legal, and communications organizations will report directly to Cron, a former chairman of Vivendi Universal Games, who joined CA’s Board of Directors in 2002. He has also served as CEO of the Flipside Network.Clarke joined CA as CFO this year. Previously, he was CFO of Compaq Computer Corp. and played a key role in the $19 billion merger of Compaq and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) in 2002.

— James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-gen Data Center Forum