Cobalt Iron appoints Brian Smith as Vice President of Operations

Cobalt Iron Inc., a provider of cloud-based data protection, has hired Brian Smith as vice president of operations. In this newly created position, Smith will oversee the company's internal day-to-day operations, including product support and deployment and the quote-to-cash process.

"We created this position to bring hands-on operational leadership to Cobalt Iron to support our continued growth," said Mark Pougnet, CFO of Cobalt Iron. "Brian's passion and proven track record of leadership in high-growth, fast-paced environments will bring best practices to our operations and accelerate 'as a service' delivery of data protection to our customers."

15 years of leadership experience

Smith has more than 15 years of progressive leadership experience with various software organisationsSmith has more than 15 years of progressive leadership experience with various software organisations. Before joining Cobalt Iron, he served as vice president of client alignment at Netsmart. Prior to that, Smith served as the chief operating officer for Aptora and as vice president of global sales support and senior director of global sales operations for Lexmark Enterprise Software.

He has had leadership responsibility for numerous operational areas, including quote to cash, software licensing, support, and contracts. Smith has an undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.

Stable and effective business practices

"I've had the pleasure of working with companies during periods of tremendous expansion. That's the position Cobalt Iron is in today, and I'm excited to be part of the team that will help this company continue to thrive," Smith said.

"We're nothing without satisfied customers, and keeping customers happy in the face of exponential growth starts with stable and effective business practices. That's what I bring to the table, and I'm ready to join the team."

Smith will report to Pougnet.