Jive Software has a new CEO and a new home for its headquarters.
Jive named Tony Zingale as its new CEO. Zingale has been the interim CEO for the past three months while Jive looked for someone to replace Dave Hersh, who is now the company’s chairman of the board.
The company also announced it would be moving its headquarters from Portland, Or. to Palo Alto, Ca.
Zingale has considerable experience in leading technology companies. He recently served as president and CEO of Mercury Interactive, a business technology optimization company. In 2006, Hewlett Packard purchased Mercury for $5.1 billion.
Jive is considered a candidate to pursue an IPO. Zingale is recognized as having the experience to lead the company to a public offering.
Jive is one of the leading social business software companies. It often considered a candidate for acquisition by large technology companies looking to get a stronger position in the fast growing social business space. Analysts project the Social Business Software (SBS) market is growing in excess of 25% annually. The market is expected to reach $5 billion by 2013.
Jive’s move from Portland is not a huge surprise. The company has increased its presence significantly in the Silicon Valley. In the past year, the company has increased from 4 to to 50 employees. It expects to have more than 100 employees in Palo Alto by the beginning of next year.
Portland will continue to be a major hub for Jive. But it’s clear that the company is moving as the core of its operations are in Palo Alto.
The move is a bit of a blow for Portland. The community is becoming a technology center in itself but it has few technology companies that have grown to the scale of Jive Software.
