Bertrand Sicot Named CEO of Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp.
Previous CEO, Jeff Ray, Promoted to Dassault Systèmes Executive Team
CONCORD, Mass., January 5, 2011 -Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. (DS SolidWorks) today named Executive Vice President of Sales, Bertrand Sicot, its new CEO. Former CEO, Jeff Ray, has been promoted into a leadership role at Dassault Systèmes (DS) of France (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA)
Bertrand Sicot joined DS SolidWorks as Europe’s “second employee” in 1997 and has consistently improved worldwide distribution performance, revenue, profit, and global market share. His tenure at the company extends his nearly 20-years record of leading sales operations in both domestic and international engineering businesses.
“Bertrand’s quiet confidence, endless dedication to solving tough challenges, and loyal commitment to helping people succeed both personally and professionally make him the right executive to lead DS SolidWorks going forward. He has been a terrific sales leader for the past four years, both for us at SolidWorks and for our community of customers, resellers, and partners,” said Jeff Ray, who has been CEO since July 2007. “Over the past four years, I’ve witnessed SolidWorks achieve great things, including significant revenue growth and building an amazing sales channel. Although leaving my current role at SolidWorks is bittersweet, I look forward to working with the SolidWorks team while in France to extend the success of SolidWorks and DS even further.”
Ray will move to DS corporate headquarters in Vélizy, France to take on the newly created position of Executive Vice President of Geographic Operations for Dassault Systèmes. Reporting directly to DS president and CEO Bernard Charlès, Ray will oversee the company’s 12 geographies to enable local DS teams to better address the specific local challenges facing the organization’s customers and partners.
“I’m confident Bertrand’s vision, leadership, and engineering and business expertise will keep SolidWorks on its very successful course of sustained growth and continuous product improvement. As an engineer by training and member of the SolidWorks community, he has always kept the needs of customers paramount, helping them streamline product design in their various organizations,” said Charlès. “This new global organization will enable us to significantly expand our worldwide leadership in 2011 and for years to come.”
Sicot’s Background Bertrand joined DS SolidWorks in 1997 as the regional sales manager for Western Europe and Scandinavia. He significantly increased business in these regions and earned a promotion to country manager for Western Europe in 1999, where he was responsible for all sales operations in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Spain, and Portugal. In 2004, he was promoted to vice president, North American sales and was promoted to executive vice president of sales in 2007. Bertrand began his career at IBM France, and was a branch sales manager for Computervision France before joining SolidWorks. Bertrand holds an engineering degree from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers. He also served as an officer in the French Navy.
As executive vice president of sales, Bertrand Sicot directed the global growth strategies for DS SolidWorks by ensuring that the regional sales, education sales, and VAR development teams have the resources they need.
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