Robert Brennan, CEO of Iron Mountain, Interviewed by Forbes.com

By Matthew Kirdahy

June 27, 2008

Corporate Governance - On The Mountain Top

A fluid succession plan and a clear vision of the future will remain the key tenets to a business that has flourished under the same leadership for more than 25 years. Even though that firm foundation is in place, it won’t make the new guy’s job any easier at Iron Mountain.

The newly appointed chief executive of the U.S.-based data storage company, Robert Brennan, 48, has enormous shoes to fill as head of one of the world’s largest data storage companies. After all, he replaced 62-year-old Richard Reese, who has run the company since 1981.

“I think the biggest challenge I faced was really being accepted by the team because you can’t be successful in this type of role unless there’s a lot of people that support you,” Brennan said.

He joined Iron Mountain in November 2005 through the acquisition of Connected, where he had been serving as CEO since 2000. Iron Mountain hired Brennan as chief operating officer and president of the business’s North American operations. Reese was grooming him for the top job from the start. Brennan said he will practice the same succession plan, which has given him a company that’s operating soundly in what’s become a tough economic environment for any business.

Since 2004, Iron Mountain’s annual revenue increased from $1.8 billion to $2.7 billion. In its last quarterly report–for the period that ended March 31–Iron Mountain said annual revenue increased to $404 million from $352 million a year earlier. The company reported a slight decrease in income to $33.5 million from $34.7 million.

Brennan said the rising cost of steel …

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