Aptum promotes CloudOps founder to CEO following January acquisition

Ian Rae, Aptum and CloudOps CEO.
The company is revamping leadership as it looks to capitalize on AI-driven demand for multi-cloud solutions.

Aptum has announced several major changes to its executive suite, including appointing a new CEO and president, chair of the board, and chief revenue officer.

The Toronto-based global provider of managed services and advisory and consulting services called these staffing changes “strategic additions.” The startup said this change is integral to Aptum’s vision of capitalizing on the growing artificial intelligence (AI)-driven demand for multi-cloud solutions in the market.

Aptum bought CloudOps for an undisclosed sum in January.

Ian Rae succeeds Susan Bowen as CEO and president of Aptum, effective Sept. 1, 2023. JP Rosato becomes chairman of the board, and David Wigglesworth steps into the role of chief revenue officer. Bowen had served as CEO of Aptum for five years.

Rae said that Bowen had built a world-class organization with a solid business plan. “Aptum is well-positioned to offer true, end-to-end hybrid solutions for our global customers,” Rae added. “In the short term we will be focused on executing that plan, rounding out our team, and leaning in on the market problems around multi-cloud IT adoption and operations, DevOps platforms, and related cost management and FinOps practices.”

“I have had an extraordinary journey with Aptum,” Bowen said. “With every change over my eight years with the organization, I have been steadfast on our guiding star, which has been to transform in the market, to remain relevant, and to enable our team to deliver unparalleled service and expertise to our customers. As I reach my five-year milestone as CEO and president of Aptum, I am beyond proud to hand over the reins to Ian Rae with the knowledge that Aptum will continue to innovate, grow, and thrive.”

In some ways, Rae’s appointment as CEO is an in-house promotion, as he joined the company following Aptum’s January acquisition of CloudOps, a Montréal-based cloud consulting managed services and software startup he founded in 2005. Rae is actively involved as an advisor and angel investor in the Montréal enterprise technology startup community, and was a co-founder of early-stage accelerator Year One Labs alongside Highline Beta’s Ben Yoskovitz, Hockeystick’s Raymond Luk, and Startupfest’s Alistair Croll. He serves on the board of Air Transat and recently completed a board appointment with Genome Canada.

Aptum acquired CloudOps for an undisclosed amount in a deal that closed on Jan. 5, saying the acquisition would enable it to further deliver its multi-cloud solutions and services, which it claims it offers to clients in 43 countries. The entire CloudOps team of 60 or so employees joined Aptum, bringing the company’s headcount to around 300 people.

RELATED: Aptum Technologies acquires CloudOps to expand its cloud solutions

Rosato, operating partner at DigitalBridge—a global infrastructure investment firm—brings over 30 years of experience of design, engineering, and operations within large, complex technology environments. Rosato has had a pivotal role in developing innovation services, defining monetization strategies for technology assets and investments, and establishing partnerships between enterprises and providers.

Wigglesworth has 25 years of experience in sales leadership, operations, demand generation, and territory development. Wigglesworth’s proven track record will be pivotal in leading the sales organization across the U.S., Canada, Latin America, the UK, and Europe.

Aptum originated in 2019, when Cogeco Peer 1 rebranded itself after its parent company, Cogeco Communications, sold it to the global investment firm Digital Colony. Aptum sold its data centres for an undisclosed amount in 2021 to eStruxture.

“Cloud computing has been eating the world, and after a phase of breakneck market adoption, we are entering a phase where the quality of that adoption and the operational excellence in driving outcomes will separate the digital businesses that can outperform, and are able to do so sustainably,” Rae told BetaKit via email. “The combination of our experienced advisory, our operational support spanning all major clouds and our software platform for cloud service automation and management will combine to support our aspiration to be the best long-term partner for customers on their journey through the multi-cloud universe.”

Feature image of Ian Rae, Aptum and CloudOps CEO, courtesy of Aptum.

Charles Mandel

Charles Mandel

Charles Mandel's reporting and writing on technology has appeared in Wired.com, Canadian Business, Report on Business Magazine, Canada's National Observer, The Globe and Mail, and the National Post, among many others. He lives off-grid in Nova Scotia.

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