SAS Institute president resigns

by Gopika Vaidya

February 15, 2001 —

AFTER SPENDING BARELY five months as president and COO of independent software vendor SAS Institute, Andre Boisvert has resigned from the company, SAS said in a statement Monday.

Boisvert was appointed president and COO to allow "[company founder, chairman, and CEO] Jim Goodnight time to go out into the field, meeting with our customers, partners, and CEOs of other high-tech companies around the world . . . However, Jim will now be sticking closer to home but will take the occasional opportunity to visit customers and partners to stay abreast of issues in the field," the statement said.

Boisvert was appointed to this post by Goodnight on Sept. 15, 2000, a mere seven months after he was hired as vice president of business development and strategic investments. He was responsible for managing development, sales, and SAS software support divisions, including research and development, business solutions, worldwide marketing, sales, corporate communications, information systems, technical support, education, and publications, according to the statement.

Boisvert's resignation is one among several at the company. Former president of SAS Americas, Marianna Suciu, and senior director of strategic investments and mergers and acquisitions, Stephen J. Wiehe, left the Cary, N.C.-based company in the past month for positions at publicly traded companies, according to an article from the Associated Press.

Last spring, Goodnight announced plans to take his company public within 18 months, a goal that was pushed forward to 2002 by Boisvert, according to the Associated Press. "SAS is still firmly committed to preparing for an IPO . . . We expect the IPO will probably take place in mid-2002, or when market conditions are favorable," the SAS statement said.

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