Yankee Group chief steps down
The consulting firm says its founder and chief executive officer Howard Anderson has stepped down.
Anderson, who founded the Boston-based firm in 1970, will be succeeded by former chief operating officer Berge Ayvazian, effective immediately. The firm said Anderson will become chairman and continue to remain involved in the company's strategy. Brian Adamik will replace Ayvazian as the firm's new chief operating officer.
In a press call held earlier today, Anderson said the company is doing well and that the time has come for him to "pass the baton."
Ayvazian, a 14-year Yankee Group veteran, said the company is going to redirect itself to focus on e-commerce and Internet business across all markets, such as communications, enterprise applications, and networking, as well as expand its coverage of markets in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.
In addition to his role as chairman, Anderson will create YankeeTek, a new Internet incubator firm that will offer financial, strategic, and promotional services to Internet start-up companies in their infancy. The company also said Anderson will join the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School as a professor.
The company, which is a subsidiary of information services firm Primark, said it will open its newest office on November 30 in San Paolo, Brazil.