Five9 (News - Alert) is one of the major names to work with when it comes to cloud contact center software, but the field certainly has plenty of other competitors eager for a slice of the market. No doubt aware of this, Five9 made an addition to its leadership ranks, bringing in Scott Welch, an industry expert with plenty of experience to serve as its new executive vice president (EVP) of cloud operations.

Welch holds over 24 years of experience in not only software development but also technology operations and management in general. Before making the jump to Five9, Welch spent 10 years with inContact, managing a team that dealt in several operational functions. The team covered telecom operations, system and network administration, and a complete 7x24 network operations center.

That alone might qualify Welch for the position, but the new Five9 EVP has also served as vice president for information services, vice president for application development, and director of information technology at several different firms prior to 2003.

Welch noted that his plans involve helping Five9 drive contact centers into a new way of doing business in the cloud.

"As a leader in the contact center space, Five9 is helping companies leverage the benefits of the cloud to increase agent productivity, create powerful customer connections, and enjoy greater business agility. I look forward to contributing to the success of Five9 by helping contact centers of every size move beyond old-school, on premise solutions to take advantage of the cloud," he said in a statement.

Five9's president and CEO, Mike Burkland, rang a note of assent, noting that “Scott's expertise in building and operating cloud technologies, coupled with his passion and management skills, make him a valuable addition to the Five9 team.”

This announcement comes at a good time for Five9 overall. Not only did the company recently add Robert Zollars to the board of directors back in late January, but there are also reports that Five9 is looking to go public, filing a registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC (News - Alert)). While the number and price of shares involved has yet to be determined, the filing itself suggests a forward-looking direction for the company as a whole.

It's worth noting here that while the IPO registration statement has been filed, it hasn't yet taken effect. This could mean that Five9 is looking to bring in some big names in the field ahead of any IPO effort to help draw interest in the company's long-term propositions and operations – just the kind of thing that might be expected ahead of an IPO.

Only time will tell just how this all boils down, of course, but with new management positions filled and a potential IPO in the works, it looks like very big things ahead for Five9 and for the cloud contact center industry general.