Kevin Kennedy joins Blue Ridge Partners as Senior Managing Director
Technology and telecommunications executive Kevin Kennedy has joined the senior leadership team at growth consultancy Blue Ridge Partners. Previously the President and CEO of business communications giant Avaya, Kennedy brings over three decades of executive experience in technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) to the role of Senior Managing Director at Blue Ridge.
McLean, Virginia-based Blue Ridge Partners is a consultancy that focuses on accelerating the profitable revenue growth of clients. The firm supports strategic growth options like new market entry, geographical expansion, and product and service additions. The consultancy also helps optimize sales force effectiveness, channel performance, marketing, and pricing, among other areas.
The firm’s professionals work with Fortune 500 companies, mid-market businesses, and private equity firms to help identify and realize revenue performance improvements. Since 2002, the firm has supported hundreds of companies across North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia, and recently notched its 500th client. Aside from its D.C. area head office, Blue Ridge also has locations in Frankfurt, London, and Melbourne.
Most of the firm’s senior leadership comes from the ranks of large strategy consulting firms, though many have also led businesses. The firm has brought in a distinguished member of the latter category with the high-profile addition of seasoned business executive Kevin Kennedy. Formerly the CEO of business communications giant Avaya, Kennedy joins Blue Ridge as Senior Managing Partner.Kennedy has over 30 years of executive experience in the field of technology and telecommunications. Before leading Avaya, where he was President and CEO from 2009-2017, Kennedy served as CEO of JDS Uniphase – an optical and communications tech company – from 2003 to 2008. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President at Cisco Systems, and Chief Operating Officer at mobile internet pioneer Openwave.
“We are extremely pleased and fortunate to have Kevin join our leadership team,” said Blue Ridge Partners Managing Partner Jim Corey. “Kevin will help us continue our explosive global growth, particularly in the TMT sector, and he will aid in building a stronger presence for our services in Silicon Valley and the US west coast. His distinguished and highly relevant experience will provide robust leadership and new insights for all our clients."
Kennedy is currently a board member of KLA-Tencor and Digital Realty, and has served on the boards of numerous tech companies, including Rambus, Quantum, and Polycom. In the public sphere, Kennedy was appointed to the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee in 2010 by President Obama. Before that, he served as a congressional fellow on the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Science, Space, and Technology in 1987.
Before his illustrious career in the technology and telecommunications business, Kennedy was an adjunct professor at Rutgers in the early 1980s, publishing papers in computational methods, data networking, and technology managements. He holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University and an MS and PhD in engineering from Rutgers University. Kennedy has also completed an executive program at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.
“Finding, accelerating and sustaining top line growth is the number one issue on the minds of CEOs and their Boards,” remarked Kennedy. "Having worked with the excellent Blue Ridge Partners team before, I am delighted now to join them. The firm is rapidly growing and is intensely focused on helping clients successfully pursue accelerated growth."