IP audio and control specialist Barix has appointed Ronni Guggenheim as CEO. Based in Zurich, Guggenheim takes the reins on 1 October — and is promising “exponential development” for the company.
“Barix has a stellar reputation as an IP technology pioneer and a very solid technology core, the majority of which is hardware-driven,” said Guggenheim. “We have an opportunity to increase market share by building a broader ecosystem with a stronger software focus.”
Guggenheim comes to Barix from the digital signage industry, having had recent leadership roles at Minicom Digital Signage and ComQi, a leading global digital signage technology supplier. The latter company was formed through a merger between Minicom Digital Signage and EnQii, an effort which Guggenheim drove and executed. He brings additional leadership experience to Barix as former managing partner and CEO of neXius AG, where he drove strategy development and execution for hardware and software technology companies.
Barix founder Johannes G. Rietschel, who served as CEO of Barix since its inception in 2001, will remain as executive chairman and CTO. This will allow him to focus on his visionary and technology development skills as he relinquishes the daily operations and business strategy to Guggenheim.
“Barix has achieved excellent growth for 12 years, but we have reached a size where we need different entrepreneurial skillsets,” said Rietschel. “I will remain involved in the overall company vision but am getting back to focusing on technology and ensuring we have the best to offer for our customers. Ronni brings the experience we need to build stronger sales channels and strategic focus worldwide. And I will work with him to guarantee greater acceleration of Barix’s success.”
Barix believes that Guggenheim’s digital signage experience is an ideal complement to its strategy in the retail and business space, where the company has a strong reputation and global customer base for in-store audio solutions. Guggenheim will bring an overall stronger vertical focus to the company, which also supplies technology solutions to the broadcast, security, entertainment and professional AV/installation markets. He will also further invest in relationships with existing OEM and channel partnerships, while paving the way for new alliances.
“At Barix, we have a well-developed, well-defined and established company that will break through to a new phase of revenue growth by building on the successes of our existing team — a team we will continue to rely on heavily,” he said. “We’ll quickly bring better clarity to our vertical and geographical focus, and we expect exponential development of the company as a result.”
