Mike Borman has more than 35 years of leadership experience in the technology industry. His background spans hardware, software, and services which include two public company Board of Directors and CEO positions as well as working closely with private equity. He has been the CEO of Avocent (acquired by Emerson Electric), Dynamic Ops (acquired by VMware), SunGard Public Sector and Education (acquired by Vista) and Blue Coat Systems (acquired by Thoma Bravo). All companies had a successful exit that Mr. Borman either started the process and/or completed the sale. In addition, Mr. Borman was with IBM for 30 years, rising to the top 50 executives at IBM.
Mr. Borman was most recently the Chief Commercial Officer for XPO Logistics which provides cutting-edge supply chain solutions to the world’s most successful companies, including Boeing, The Home Depot, IKEA, L’Oréal and many others. Here, Mr. Borman had executive responsibility for XPO’s commercial strategy and the operation of its sales organization. Under his leadership, XPO’s global sales team helped customers utilize the company’s integrated services and cutting-edge technology to operate their supply chains more effectively.
Mr. Borman recently served as CEO of SunGard Public Sector (software and services revenue of approximately $250M annually). Mr. Borman built a new team and organization (both Local Government and K-12) and returned the company to 4 years of continuous profitable revenue growth.
Prior to SunGard, Mr. Borman started Borman Strategic Consulting Group, where he consults to help companies scale in size. He has consulted with companies like McKinsey, Bain Capital, TPG, Nexant, Telesoft Partners and numerous hedge funds.
Mr. Borman was the President and CEO of Blue Coat Systems (Web Security) from September 2010 until September 2011. During Mr. Borman’s tenure, he built the company’s first 3 year business plan that focused on organic growth; restructured the development and product groups by streamlining operations from eight business units down to three; restarted the marketing function by hiring a CMO (absent for 10 months prior) ; and rebuilt sales leadership in all 3 geographies. Blue Coat had a successful exit to become private in 2011.
After leaving IBM in 2008, Mr. Borman was named the CEO of Avocent Corporation in July and Emerson Electric purchased Avocent for $1.2B 18 months later. While CEO of Avocent, (traded on the NASDAQ – AVCT) Mr. Borman focused on several key initiatives and investments. The first was to develop a strategy based upon Avocent’s unique control points. The focus was on Data Center Physical Resource Management – with a focus on Software Solutions. Second, during the 2008/2009 economic downturn, Avocent restructured for efficiency, cut costs and consolidated operations worldwide. As a result, Avocent remained profitable (EPS $1.50) with a strong cash flow – $80M+ in 2009. Third, Mr. Borman built a strong empowered team with many new additions to the senior leadership team focused on the customer and development. Overall, in 18 months, the company was transformed, re-energized, with a new vision and focus on winning in the marketplace.
Prior to joining Avocent, Mr. Borman was IBM’s Vice President of Worldwide Software Sales and was responsible for the more than 18,000 sales and technical support individuals, $18B in revenue and significant profit. During his almost 4 years leading this team, IBM’s Software produced very strong results – doubling in revenue and profitability. More than 40 acquisitions were completed and assimilated into Mr. Borman’s organization during this time.
During Mr. Borman’s 30 year IBM career he had 5 General Management positions which include GM for IBM Global Business Partners where he was responsible for over $29B in revenue and the relationships with all of IBM’s business partners. In this role, Mr. Borman was selected as the #1 Channel Chief in North America by Computer Reseller News and was featured in several cover stories on IBM in VAR Business, CRN, and other publications worldwide. IBM won a record 8 Channel Awards in 2004.
Mr. Borman was also the General Manager of IBM’s UNIX business during the time when the Power4 technology was started, and it has contributed to IBM gaining market share every year since 2002. Mr. Borman accepted the award for IBM’s supercomputer partnership with the Department of Energy at the Press Club in Washington D.C. While GM of IBM’s i-Series business (previously the AS/400) he put in place a number of initiatives that contributed to double-digit revenue growth in 2005.
While located in Tokyo Mr. Borman was GM of IBM’s Asia-Pacific Small and Medium Business, Channels and overall Strategy. There his team was responsible for starting IBM’s channel and distribution business in India and China. Mr. Borman was also GM of the Midwestern Area in the United States responsible for more than $5B in revenue. (Mr. Borman also lived in Beijing, China for 9 months in 2012.)
While located in Chicago, Mr. Borman was a member of Mayor Daley’s Education Initiative to improve Charter Schools and overall education in Chicago. In addition, while IBM vice president of small and medium business, he participated in the Clinton/Gore administration by being a member of the Small Business Task Force to reduce administrative workload placed upon small businesses.
Mr. Borman was a member of IBM’s Performance Team (top 50 leaders in the company), IBMs Integration and Values Team, and IBM Sales Leadership Council.
Mr. Borman has his B.S. from the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois with a major in Computer Science. He earned his MBA from Northwestern University – Kellogg School with three majors in Finance, Strategy and Management.
Mr. Borman was on the Kellogg Alumni Advisory Board, and the Kelley School of
Business Board and is a member of the Economic Club and the Commercial Club in Chicago. Mr. Borman was previously on the Steppenwolf Theater Board, the Executive Committee of the Chicago Chamber of Commerce, and IBM’s Executive representative for the Japan Chamber of Commerce.