MLB’s official cloud communications provider Mitel announced the appointment of Mary T. McDowell as President and CEO of the preeminent PBX provider. After almost 10 years in charge, former ITEXPO keynoter Rich McBee is departing, with the company in quite capable hands.

Mary is on the board of Autodesk and Informa and has served as CEO of Polycom – now just Poly, a company Mitel almost purchased in April of 2016. Mary started there in September of that year, working until July of 2018. She spent many years at Nokia where she became the first non-Finnish citizen hired directly onto Nokia’s executive team as well as jobs at HP and Compaq.

A similarity between Mary and Rich is acquisition experience – Rich had it at Danaher which was an acquisition machine. They are well-known for buying and integrating a new organization and optimizing its performance. Mary had to integrate Compaq into HP when Carly Fiorina – also a past ITEXPO keynoter decided to acquire the company.

“We thank Rich for his leadership at Mitel. He has played a crucial role in transforming Mitel and we wish him the best in his future endeavors. We are committed to Mitel’s success and look forward to partnering with Mary to continue the company’s strategy of providing a clear and seamless path for every business to move to the cloud,” said Andrew Frey, Mitel board member and partner at Searchlight Capital Partners. “Mary’s proven operating experience and success in guiding technology companies through market transitions make her an ideal choice to guide Mitel in this next chapter.”

Mitel boasts a daily user base of over 70 million, with a growing UCaaS business and recent accolades from Frost & Sullivan. McDowell grabs the baton as the cloud communications provider is on the ascent.

“Mitel has a storied history of innovation, a trusted brand and a unique ability to meet customers wherever they are on their path to the cloud,” said Mitel’s new President and CEO, Mary T. McDowell. “I’m excited about the opportunities that lie ahead and eager to work closely with Mitel’s experienced team and network of partners to continue delivering solutions that make communications and collaboration more seamless for our customers.”

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