After more than 20 years with longtime CEO Bob Hammer at the helm, data backup and recovery vendor Commvault has appointed IT veteran Sanjay Mirchandani as the company’s new president and CEO.

Mirchandani, who previously was the CEO for Puppet, an Oregon-based IT automation software company, also has worked in senior leadership positions with VMware, EMC and Microsoft for more than 20 years. At Puppet, he grew the user base of the company’s open source and commercial products to more than 40,000, including 75 percent of the Fortune 100, according to the company. Puppet opened new offices in Seattle, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Romania during his tenure.

Commvault’s Sanjay Mirchandani

Mirchandani, who also will serve as a member of the Commvault board. replaces longtime CEO Bob Hammer, who grew Commvault into a $3.1 billion company.

“I’m incredibly excited about the opportunity at Commvault, a company with a stellar industry reputation and commitment to delivering the best technology,” said Mirchandani. “In the coming months, my primary focus is to get to know the broader organization. We have a brilliant team and I look forward to immersing myself in Commvault’s culture, ideas and plans to continue our heritage as an innovative industry leader.”

Working with Commvault’s partners also will be an important part of his new job, especially after the company enhanced its partner program last July.

“As I start my new role here, I especially look forward to getting to know the partner communities and helping them to achieve their individual goals and celebrate shared growth,” he said. “Partners have been at the core of how I’ve done business all through my career, and I am incredibly pleased that Commvault shares these beliefs. Our new channel strategy and its early success is a testament to this point.”

In a related executive move, the company appointed Nick Adamo as chairman of the board, replacing Hammer, who will remain on the board as chairman emeritus. Those appointments take effect on April 18.

Adamo said Mirchandani’s hiring is good for the company and its customers and partners.

“Sanjay’s accomplishments at Puppet demonstrate a deep understanding of multicloud and cloud-native applications,” said Adamo. “We are confident he is the ideal person to build on Commvault’s current momentum and champion the rich heritage of combining innovation with unwavering focus on customer and partner success.”

In a post on the Commvault blog, Mirchandani wrote that his previous work in corporate IT has well-prepared him for his new role.

“As a former CIO, I’ve also lived in the world of the customer,” he wrote. “Today, we know users are dealing with complex challenges. Commvault has the industry-leading technologies and services to help them protect against cyberattacks, modernize infrastructure, improve compliance and reduce costs.”