Trigence Corp. has appointed a sales-focused software industry veteran as its new president and chief executive officer.

The Ottawa-based application virtualization solutions maker said former Sonic Software president Greg O'Connor had come in as Trigence's new head honcho, following a 16-year career at Sonic parent company Progress Software Corp.

"We are very pleased to have attracted someone of Greg O'Connor's calibre to Trigence. Greg is a seasoned software executive whose combined sales and technical background, leadership skills and customer focus will enable Trigence to capitalize on the company's growing market opportunity," said Trigence's board chairman Ron Warburton in a statement.

Mr. O'Connor has more than 25 years of experience in the software industry, having founded Sonic Software and growing the company from concept to 350 people and more than $40 million in revenues, following its acquisition by Progress Software in 2005.

He also created the enterprise service bus (ESB) product category at the company and spread the word on the division, while overseeing business functions including marketing, sales, product development, client support and services.

"Trigence has breakthrough technology and a skilled technical team. On this strong foundation, I am extremely confident that we can drive the company to the next stage of growth," said Mr. O'Connor in a statement. "I will focus on building strong teams throughout the company, creating market-driven products and solutions, and dramatically increasing shareholder value. Trigence has a proven track record of building compelling and innovative products that solve critical data centre problems, and I am very excited about our future."