“I am excited to continue to bring SimpliGov forward as a customer-centric organization, helping those with a vision of improving e-government services for both their internal employees and residents,” O’Connell said. “Under my stewardship, SimpliGov will bring lean principles to the fore, helping our customers improve operations and drive efficiency despite tighter budgets and evolving user expectations.”
Before joining SimpliGov in 2018, O’Connell was CIO for ThinkSmart LLC, where “he was instrumental in the conception and management of the company’s technology infrastructure, information security, product design and development, and roadmap,” SimpliGov said in a news release announcing his appointment as CEO.
“O’Connell has led the SimpliGov technology team through the purposeful evolution of a world-class infrastructure, improved and implemented best-in-class information security programs, and spearheads system reliability, product design and development and the strategic roadmap,” the news release said. “He prioritizes strong customer relationships as foundational for the successful evolution of SimpliGov.”
“David’s efficiency and effectiveness is exceptional,” said Michael Concannon, co-founder of SimpliGov. “Our success to date is attributed to David’s work in building a feature-rich, highly scalable platform combined with his detailed knowledge of every one of our over 80 customers and their unique implementations. David knows our business, and our customers’ business, and has made himself available to all our customers. I expect he will continue to make himself available to all our customers as the CEO. There is none more qualified to ensure our customer’s success.”
Paul Hirner, co-founder of SimpliGov, added: “We are pleased to recognize David for his accomplishments; he’s a phenomenal leader who will continue to drive incredible success for our customers through product innovation. SimpliGov has never been more relevant in state and local government, and David will deliver the strategies that will lead to continual growth and development of the company.”
Concannon and Hirner will remain active with SimpliGov in advisory roles and as members of the Board of Directors.
O’Connell succeeds Gary Leikin as CEO. Leikin has been named chief business officer of GovOS.
The company said in the news release: “O’Connell’s dedication to building an industry-leading product, supported by unmatched development and services, has driven the company’s impressive growth, including a 62 percent revenue increase from 2023 to 2024, with 2024 on track to be an equally impressive growth year as SimpliGov continues to expand state enterprise deals and serve large local markets.”
In a LinkedIn post Friday, O’Connell said: “I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Paul Hirner and Michael Concannon for their support and confidence in me. Together, we will embark on an exciting journey of growth, success, and impactful change.”
SimpliGov specializes in digital forms, workflow automation and electronic signature solutions for state and local government.
