CA Sales Exec Departs In Yet Another Reorganization

The struggles never seems to end at the company formerly known as Computer Associates. CA Inc.'s already crowded exit ramp clogged a bit more today as the company announced the departure of Gregory Corgan, executive VP of worldwide sales, the fourth high-ranking executive to leave the software giant since mid-April.

Corgan's departure comes less than a week after CA confirmed that faulty accounting failed to include $70 million in sales commissions and would delay quarterly results. The company again downgraded its earnings forecasts to a loss. Last week, new CEO John Swainson expressed disappointment in how the sales commission problems had affected business and hinted changes were ongoing to ensure commission troubles don't continue.

Today the company described Corgan's departure as part of another sweeping realignment of its sales organization. Corgan's position will be eliminated and his job taken over by a group of five executives who will report to new COO Michael Christenson.

The company had already altered sales compensation models to emphasize new sales and begun extensive training of its sales teams. In an interview with InformationWeek in February, Swainson called the evolution of the company's sales force "the biggest change that CA is making." Back then, Corgan pegged 60% of the sales staff as new since he came on as sales chief early in 2004.

Part of the change has been a push to increase sales through third parties, though Christenson admitted today it has been thus far ineffective. CA wants to make channel sales account for 30% of the company's business, though it only accounts for 10% of revenue today. The company hopes the appointment of Executive VP Gary Quinn to head up CA's indirect sales will be a catalyst for that effort.

Corgan joins former COO Jeff Clarke, CFO Robert Davis, CTO Mark Barrenechea, and another top finance executive in the company's growing executive graveyard. Although Corgan was a former IBM executive like Swainson and several of the other executives who have left, he wasn't among the new executives brought in when Swainson arrived at the company in November 2004.

Swainson had boasted earlier this year that turnover at the company had been drastically reduced, calling it something he looks at as a "business metric." While it's not at all clear that general turnover within the company has increased, Swainson's measurements are certainly in flux when taking his former lieutenants into account.