Communications technology company, Spirent Communications plc reports that Eric Updyke has been appointed as its chief executive officer-designate. His employment starts immediately and he will be appointed as a director of the company and take up the CEO position following the Annual General Meeting on May 1st, 2019.
Eric’s appointment follows Spirent’s announcement in November 2018 that Eric Hutchinson wished to retire after 37 years of employment with the group, most recently as CEO, following his appointment to that role in 2013. He will step down from the Board after the May AGM.
Eric Updyke reportedly has extensive experience in international business management with a technical understanding of the markets in which Spirent operates. He has worked in various sections of the industry over the last 30 years and has led transformative growth programmes on a global scale.
Most recently, Eric was on the executive management team of Amdocs reporting directly to the CEO. In his capacity as group president, Services at Amdocs Ltd he had global responsibility for the entire Managed Services, Testing and SI businesses. This business encompassed 10,000 employees and roughly US$2 billion (€1.7 billion) in revenue.
Prior to that role, Updyke was division president for North America at Amdocs where he managed a $1 billion (€0.89 billion) P&L and was responsible for the relationship with North American communications service providers. Before joining Amdocs, he held executive roles at Nokia Siemens Networks and AT&T. Eric Updyke has an MBA in Finance and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.
Commenting on the appointment, Bill Thomas, chairman, says: “The Board wanted to appoint an executive who was growth oriented with global experience and deep expertise in our chosen markets. We are delighted to appoint Eric and are confident that he meets all those criteria.
“I would also like to express the Board’s thanks and appreciation to Eric Hutchinson who has created the platform to realise Spirent’s potential.”
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