"Bearden is one of the most experienced and respected executives in the software industry," CRE chief executive officer Michael Valverde said in a statement. "He is well known for his ability to grow companies on a global scale. As Chain Reaction moves towards solidifying its position as the leader in ecommerce solutions for small to mid-sized businesses, Bearden will be a vital asset in helping the company execute on its vision."

CRE announced Bearden's appointment Tuesday, noting that he is bringing more than two decades of experience in the software industry to the position. His most recent role was chief operating officer for a desktop integration software developer OpenSpan (openspan.com), where he managed global sales and operations.

Prior to his role at OpenSpan, he was chief operating officer for JBoss (jboss.com), where he managed global operations and played a key role in its acquisition by Red Hat Software (redhat.com). Before JBoss, Bearden was Americas division president at supply chain software provider i2 Technologies (i2.com). He also spent six years in executive sales positions at enterprise software giant Oracle (oracle.com).

Bearden will be alternating between his new role on CRE's board of directors and his current position as Entrepreneur In Residence for Benchmark Capital (benchmark.com) and active advisor to high-growth technology startups.

"I'm looking forward to helping Chain Reaction Ecommerce solidify its leadership position in the emerging ecommerce solutions marketplace," Bearden said in a statement. "As more organizations look for open source ecommerce software solutions -- either to streamline operations or to evolve their current solutions, Chain Reaction is well-positioned to capture significant market share in a market projected to be more than $335 billion by 2012."

Last week, CRE released the latest version of its open-source, e-commerce solution CRE Loaded Version 6.3, making it easier for users to create and manage online storefronts and shopping cart systems.