Spinnaker names Rex Young as Chief Information Officer

Spinnaker Support has appointed Rex Young as Chief Information Officer. He will report to Chief Executive Officer Matt Stava.

The appointment comes as Spinnaker expands its global operations to meet demand for third-party support across Oracle, SAP, VMware and PostgreSQL systems.

Young will lead the company's technology strategy, overseeing platform modernisation, data and analytics, cybersecurity, and the use of artificial intelligence in internal systems and customer-facing tools.

He will also work with senior leaders across the business on technology projects designed to improve operations, support customers and guide decision-making with data.

The hire adds another senior technology executive as Spinnaker sustains double-digit revenue growth and follows its expansion in South Africa and continued growth in its VMware support business.

Young joins with more than 25 years of technology leadership experience. Most recently, he was Chief Information Officer and Chief Information Security Officer at SambaSafety, where he oversaw enterprise IT, information security, digital transformation, AI initiatives and technology modernisation programmes.

Earlier in his career, he served as Chief Information Officer at LogRhythm. His background also includes work with private equity-backed software and technology companies.

Growth phase

Spinnaker provides third-party software support and related services for enterprise customers using Oracle, SAP, VMware and PostgreSQL. It says it serves more than 1,300 clients worldwide.

Its recent expansion includes the opening of a South Africa office in partnership with African Rainbow Capital, creating a regional delivery and engineering hub for customers across Africa and sub-Saharan markets.

Spinnaker's VMware division has also grown as some enterprise customers reassess support options after licensing changes introduced by Broadcom. The company says it has signed dozens of enterprise clients in that practice and offers support for organisations running vSphere 7 beyond Broadcom's end-of-support deadline.

It also says it has a 94% customer satisfaction rating and support teams with average enterprise engineering experience of more than 20 years.

Technology brief

According to Spinnaker, Young's work will include developing its AI strategy, building on products such as Navigator and Spinnaker Intelligence. The aim is to improve issue resolution while tightening security across departments.

That focus reflects a broader trend among enterprise software service providers, which are increasing investment in automation, analytics and security tools as customers seek lower costs, operational resilience and alternatives to vendor-led support models.

Stava outlined the company's rationale for the hire in a statement on the appointment.

"Our core technology capabilities shape how we operate and serve our customers," said Matt Stava, Chief Executive Officer of Spinnaker Support. "Rex has spent his career turning complex technology environments into engines for growth. His experience modernizing platforms, strengthening security, and putting data and AI to work will help us deliver more for our customers."

Young said his priority would be to build systems that support the company's expansion while keeping security and practical customer use in focus.

"Spinnaker is growing fast, and that growth has to be matched by technology that scales with it," said Rex Young. "My focus is on simplifying how the business runs, so AI can do more than automate tasks. Done right, it strengthens security instead of expanding the attack surface, and gives our engineers faster answers instead of more noise. And this isn't just internal IT. I want us building technology our customers benefit from directly, not only what keeps the lights on behind the scenes. That's the foundation I want under Spinnaker as we grow. I look forward to partnering with Matt and the leadership team at a stage where the business has real momentum."