Software Veteran to Bring His Expertise to TouchStone

TouchStone Software Corp., seeking to stabilize its executive suite and shore up its bottom line, on Thursday named software veteran Kenneth S. Forbes III as president and chief executive, effective immediately.

The Huntington Beach software company, which has been battling slumping sales, particularly with its antivirus product, said Forbes will focus on developing new products for retail and commercial customers. He also will oversee day-to-day operations.

Most recently, Forbes served as vice president of worldwide engineering at NetManage, a $75-million software company. He was responsible for software development, quality assurance and technical publications.

Prior to NetManage, Forbes worked as the vice president of development for XP Systems, a banking software developer with $40 million in annual revenue.

TouchStone’s previous chief executive, Larry Jordan, resigned June 3 to become chairman. Former Chairman Larry Dingus has been serving as interim chief executive.

Another Orange County high-tech firm, Smith Micro Software Inc., also announced top-level changes Thursday.

The company named former AST Computer executive Daniel D. Sheppard as executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Sheppard was vice president of global product marketing for AST. The company also named Rhonda L. Smith, a co-founder, director, secretary and treasurer, to the added post of vice chairman of the board. She had been chief operating officer.

Aliso Viejo-based Smith Micro provides communications software for personal computers.