Vonage Holdings Corp. appoints financial tech veteran as new CFO

Vonage Holdings Corp. said effective Jan. 29 that Stephen Lasher has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Lasher brings 30 years of financial leadership to Vonage, with the majority of his career spent in the technology industry. He will report to Rory Read, Chief Executive Officer of the cloud communications business.

“We are thrilled to welcome Steve to the Vonage team,” Read said. “With his deep knowledge of the technology and software space and a long history of financial leadership, Steve’s expertise in finance and business transformations will make a significant impact on helping Vonage execute on our strategy to drive revenue growth and profitability. He will also play a key role in executing on strategic investments to strengthen our innovation capacity to enable next-generation communications that are more flexible, intelligent and personal to create differentiated value for our customers.”

Lasher joins Vonage from IBM, where he spent the last 24 years of his career. He held various financial leadership positions of increasing responsibility throughout his tenure, most recently serving as vice president of finance for IBM Global Markets and Integrated Accounts, responsible for IBM’s financial operations, strategies, management, and controls for the company’s approximately $70B global sales function that drives client adoption of hybrid cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for enterprises in all industries and regions.

“It is exciting to join an innovative company like Vonage at such a pivotal moment as the world undergoes a secular shift in how businesses communicate and operate,” Lasher said. “Vonage’s single cloud communications platform is meeting this change head on, delivering a wide range of powerful services and solutions that power its customers’ and partners’ global engagement solutions so they can perform better, connect easier and enhance experiences. I look forward to working with the team at Vonage to create continued value for customers while helping to drive the Company’s next phase of growth.”

Previously, Lasher was vice president of finance for IBM Global Business Services, responsible for a group of more than 500 finance professionals within the finance, operations and performance management teams for IBM’s Global Business Services division. Prior to that, he was vice president of Finance for IBM Cloud, and served as the global financial and operational leadership for IBM’s industry leading cloud portfolio of services and solutions.

Tim Shaughnessy, who has served as interim chief financial officer since August 2020, is expected to remain with the company through February 2021 to ensure a smooth transition.