VoIP flinger Vonage taps former SAP chap to fill the gap in Apps

VoIP tech and services outfit Vonage has snapped up an exec who formerly worked for European software giant SAP to fill the role of president of its applications group.

Reporting to CEO Alan Masarek, Rodolpho Cardenuto will run sales, ops and go-to-market strategy of Vonage's unified comms and contact centre portfolios.

In addition to VoIP tech, Vonage also provides an API platform designed to help integrate voice with CRM and contact centre applications. Cardenuto will work closely with the teams building these, the company says.

Cardenuto was seen as a rising star at SAP, holding senior roles including president of SAP Americas and president of global partner operations, both reporting to then-CEO Bill McDermott and the exec board of the company. Previously, Cardenuto was also director of industry sales and alliances for Latin America and the Caribbean region at HP.

He is due to rock up at Vonage on 9 December.

The New Jersey firm started out in 2001 as a VoIP provider to consumers and businesses, but in October it kick-started a rebranding effort, launching Vonage Meetings, a video collaboration suite, and Conversation API to allow developers and enterprises keep context across messaging and voice.

Integration of voice with applications is designed to improve customer experience when people dial in to call centres, for example. The company hopes this will allow it to market itself as a – wait for it – "digital transformation" company rather than a simple provider of voice services. ®