Sistina Taps Bonner

Clustered file system startup Sistina Software Inc. is breaking in its third president and CEO in two years, as the company is expected to announce later this week that former IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and Terraspring veteran Ian Bonner has settled into the chief executive recliner.

Bonner, originally from South Africa, replaces Jeff Hinck, general partner at Crescendo Ventures, who has been functioning as Sistinas interim president and CEO since Frank Crusing left the company this summer (see Sistina Names CEO, Chairman). Crusing, who had joined the company in April 2002, has not informed the company of what he's been doing since leaving, according to a Sistina spokeswoman. [Ed. note: Just Crusing around, we expect.]

Meanwhile, Bonner -- who most recently was the president and CEO of Terraspring, which was acquired last year by Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) -- actually joined the Minneapolis-based company about six weeks ago. “I’m excited! I’m buzzed! I’m gratified that my decision is proving to be the right one,” he rhapsodizes. “Sistina has a great team and a great technology.” [Ed. note: and a great ceiling!]

No matter how excited he is about the company, getting back to work must be tough. Since selling Terraspring to Sun last November, Bonner, 48, has been on what he calls a “sabbatical to fix my golf game.” (See Sun Bounces on Terraspring.) "Unfortunately,” he says, “that didn’t happen.” FORE!

While waiting for his golf game to pick up, Bonner says he started talking to about a dozen different companies, some storage and some wireless ventures, to scope out his opportunities. “I even looked at going back to IBM, or even HP,” he says.Instead, he says, he fell in love with Sistina. “You want to be where the technology is hot,” he enthuses. “And this area is hot. This area is starting to explode!”

So what’s so hot about Sistina? Bonner describes the company’s technology as being “right in the eye of the perfect storm.” Linux is becoming mainstream, as are clustering and blade server technologies, he says, and SAN technology is really taking off. Bonner insists that sales of Sistina’s Global File System software for Linux will benefit from this confluence of trends.

The company, which expects to reach breakeven next year, already has more than 100 paying customers for its software, including Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT), Bonner says. In addition, Sistina’s Logical Volume Manager (LVM) has been baked into the Linux kernel, and has been distributed to tens of thousands of Linux users.

But while Sistina may have a grasp on the clustered file system market for Linux, it is far from the only runner in the race. Companies like IBM, Advanced Digital Information Corp. (Nasdaq: ADIC), PolyServe Inc., Qlusters, and Sanbolic Inc. are also sprinting for the finish line.

Bonner, however, says he’s not worried about Sistina’s prospects. “I come from the school of thought that says that if there isn’t any competition, then I’m in the wrong marketplace. We are clearly the first mover, and that clearly gives us an advantage.”The question now, of course, is which direction Bonner intends to lead the company forward. In light of his exit strategy from Terraspring, fattening up the company for sale might appear to be the logical scheme.

Bonner, however, insists that this is not the case. “Absolutely, unequivocally not!” he typically understates. “I sold Terraspring to Sun because it was absolutely the right thing to do... Did I plan on doing that on day No. 1? Absolutely not! But you have to be opportunistic. If someone wants to write me a big fat check, I’ll look at that!”

Before Terrspring, Bonner spent nearly a decade in different positions at IBM, including stints as VP and general manager for IBM's Software Group and VP of marketing for its partner programs.

— Eugénie "Write Me a Big Check!" Larson, Senior Editor, Byte and Switch