Kayatta leaves Global Crossing for Pragmatics

Paul Kayatta has left his position as president of Global Crossing Government Markets to become president of Pragmatics Inc., a systems and software engineering company based in McLean, Va., effective April 1.

Kayatta will be responsible for daily operations at Pragmatics. Long Nguyen, the company's founder, will keep his position as chairman and chief executive officer.

Kayatta led the government unit of Global Crossing LLC for two years. The Bermuda-based company is now mired in bankruptcy and financial controversy, including a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and questions from the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Kayatta's group was not immune to controversy. When the Defense Information Systems Agency awarded Global Crossing a $400 million contract for the Defense Research and Engineering Network last July, the other four competitors protested.

DISA subsequently withdrew the award and asked the participating companies to recompete. The agency has not yet awarded a contract this second time around, but the bids expire April 18.

Global Crossing spokesman John Schmidt said that Alan Rosenberg, a vice president, is assuming responsibilities for the eastern region of the United States, Latin America and U.S. government agencies.