Rockwell Automation is losing one of the key individuals responsible for reinvigorating its software group.
Kevin Roach, vice president and general manager of Rockwell Software, is leaving the company next week to take on the role of executive vice president at Activant Solutions Inc., a private-equity-backed ERP provider based in Livermore, CA, Rockwell said Tuesday.
Roach, who joined Rockwell in October 2004, was responsible for filling out the company’s FactoryTalk Production & Performance portfolio, both organically and through acquisition. In addition to striking a licensing agreement with OSIsoft Inc. to use that company’s PI System historian and analysis technology, Roach was instrumental in orchestrating Rockwell’s acquisitions of Datasweep, Incuity, and Pavilion Technology, which added MES, MI, and advanced process control, respectively, to the FactoryTalk fold.
“He helped crystallize the vision and fill out the line,” said Craig Resnick, research director at ARC Advisory Group, in an interview. “He did what he was hired to do, and the company benefited.” As a result, he said, Rockwell now has a team of qualified people to maintain the movement going forward. “They are in strong shape today. With the momentum and the maturity they have now, I think it will be a seamless, bumpless change when Kevin leaves.”