Polycom Appoints Peter A. Leav as President and CEO

Polycom (News - Alert) has had a good year so far. In the second quarter, the company managed to bring in $354 million in net revenue, for example — a figure which it nearly matched in the third quarter. More importantly, Polycom continues to maintain a strong position in the videoconferencing market with offerings like Polycom HD Voice and its line of SoundStation VoIP conferencing phones. Now, with December underway, the company has found a new CEO to further its position.

Peter A. Leav has been selected to act as Polycom’s president and chief executive officer, while also serving as a director on the company’s board. Leav succeeds interim CEO Kevin Parker who took the helm in July. Parker will retain his position of chairman of the board, however, and will reportedly work closely with Leav on a transition plan that focuses on furthering Polycom’s innovation, operational excellence and profitability.

Leav assumed his new role on Monday, December 2.

“Peter’s strong background in operations, general management and sales, spanning a successful 20+ year career in communications, technology and services and his energy and passion are strong assets to take Polycom to the next level,” said Parker in a statement. “We are delighted to have Peter come on board to lead Polycom into the future. His experience leading a global organization and his proven track record of driving revenue and shareholder value made Peter the natural choice for us.”

Prior to joining Polycom, Leav served as executive vice president and president of Industry and Field Operations at U.S.-based computer hardware and electronics company NCR. During his time in this position, NCR’s revenue grew from $4.6 billion in 2009 to $5.7 billion in 2012. As such, Leav seems an ideal candidate for growing Polycom’s revenue in the months and years to come.

Furthermore, with Parker’s prior experience at Polycom and Leav’s track record for revenue growth, it’s likely the company will see year-over-year gains in 2014.