Former Igel Head Jed Ayres Joins ControlUp, Eyes Channel Expansion

IT monitoring software and digital employee experience provider ControlUp scored a big hire by appointing software and channel vet Jed Ayres as its CEO.

Ayres, who spent the last seven years at German endpoint operating system provider Igel Technology, is joining San Jose, California-based ControlUp. He’ll lead the company as it it plans to expand both its team and its international presence.

Ayres announced last month that he was stepping away from his leadership role at Igel. He remains an executive advisor for the company, according to his LinkedIn profile. It grew significantly under his leadership and was acquired by TA Associates in 2021.

ControlUp’s Jed Ayres

His resume includes stints at GE, MegaPath, MTM Technologies, MCPc and AppSense.

ControlUp possesses deep ties with Igel. Five months ago, Igel named ControlUp its marketing partner of the year for EMEA.

Ayres’ new employer credits him with growing companies both organically and inorganically, “executing on strong partnerships and expanding internationally.”

ControlUp’s Asof Ganot

“Jed’s proven leadership and success with channel-driven organizations will help us bring our cutting-edge technologies to a global audience of enterprise customers,” Ganot said. “I am looking forward to partnering with Jed to advance our strategy of delivering the best digital employee experience in the market.”

Ayres replaces former CEO Asaf Ganot, who co-founded the company in 2014. Ganot will now serve as executive chairman position and lead the company’s product strategy. Ayres will work “in conjunction” with Ganot, according to a news release. ControlUp credits Ganot with starting the digital employee experience (DEX) market.

“From the first line of code that Asaf wrote, the growth potential of ControlUp has been clear to the entire industry,” Jed Ayres said. “The explosive market opportunity for an innovative DEX platform, paired with the company’s tremendous depth of resources available to drive global growth, positions ControlUp to become a software powerhouse with a multibillion valuation potential. As we execute against a huge growth opportunity, I look forward to working with the talented ControlUp team to reach our full potential.”

The appointment of Jed Ayres occurs as ControlUp plans a global expansion, notably into Asia Pacific (APAC) and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In addition, the vendor seeks to double down in North America.

ControlUps funders include K1 Investment Management and JVP. JVP chairman Erel Margalit said hiring Ayres will complement Ganot’s “product vision” with Ayres’ go-to-market skills.

“Jed brings a broad experience of creating a vision and implementing it, in both the North American and the international markets. We expect Jed to bring that experience as ControlUp grows to hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue in the next few years,” Margalit said.

Insentra is an Australian managed and professional services provider. Insentra CEO Ronnie Altit said working with ControlUp will help manage “complex workspace environments.”

Insentra’s Ronnie Altit

“As ControlUp continues its expansion into the APAC market, Insentra is eager to further engage with Jed and the team to help our joint partners and their customers build better desktop experiences,” Altit said.

Channel Impact

According to a ControlUp spokesperson, channel accounts for between 35-40% of business, depending on geography. The majority of resellers identify as VARs and generally work in end-user computing (EUC), according to the spokesperson.

Moreover, ControlUp “has been working on opening up distribution,” with more news to come, they said.

Ayres wrote in a blog Monday that he firmly believes in a “channel-first” sales model.

“To support this, I’ll be working with the ControlUp team to build out a go-to-market success strategy that balances a channel-centric approach with enterprise customer success and a robust technology ecosystem. We’ll be making investments in the ControlUp channel program to support that. We’ll also be working at a global level to activate our channel partners and ensure sales alignment. Finally, we’ll build on the ControlUp technology partner relationships and expand our partner ecosystem to deepen and further accelerate our market adoption.”

e360’s Mike Strohl

Several ControlUp partners weighed in positively on Monday.

Mike Strohl, CEO and president of California-based e360, said the IT consultancy looks forward to embedding the ControlUp DEX platform “as a core component of our solutions.”

Alchemy’s Mike Quirin

Similar praise came from Alchemy Technology Group, an advisory, consulting and reseller firm.

“As a ControlUp channel partner, we are pleased to see ControlUp enter a new growth phase with a leader who has been a channel supporter for years,” Alchemy partner Mike Quirin said. “We will continue to work together to bring our joint customers DEX solutions that solve their current challenges and help their companies scale.”