Sync’s CEO Quits After 5 Months

Sync Research Inc. Chief Executive Roger Dorf resigned Monday, less than six months after he stepped into the position at the Irvine company.

Dorf’s duties at the maker of computer-networking devices will be split between Chairman Greg Reyes and Vice Chairman and founder John Rademaker.

“The board and Roger had different ideas about where to take the company in the future,” said William Guerry, Sync’s chief financial officer. “It was decided by everyone that it made the most sense to have Roger hand in his resignation.”

Guerry declined to say how the corporate responsibilities will be divided.

Dorf, a former AT&T; Corp. executive, was hired by Rademaker to become Sync’s president and chief operating officer in 1996. He was named chief executive in May. Dorf could not be reached for comment Monday.

Sync has struggled since its dazzling Wall Street debut in 1995, when its stock soared from $20 to $44 a share on its first trading day. A month later it had climbed to $55.50 a share, but it dropped steadily over the next two years.

Analysts said Sync underestimated the resistance of people who used older IBM mainframe computers to make wholesale changes to complex computer information networks using Sync’s technology.

The company’s stock closed Monday at $3.88, down 44 cents, on Nasdaq.