A bit of somewhat surprising news out of supply chain software provider i2 this week, as it announced that CEO Michael McGrath had resigned, effective July 30.

The move was not totally unexpected, as McGrath had announced in May that he was going to leave the position by the end of the year (See Ex-Baseball Star Lenny Dykstra Says i2 Stock is Buy).

Something must have occurred to hasten the departure, however. McGrath, 57, says he is seeking other opportunities, according to an SEC filing.

McGrath, formerly an i2 board member and one of the founders of consulting company PRTM, took over the CEO reigns at i2 in February 2005, at the tail end of an accounting scandal and deep financial troubles at the company. Under his leadership, i2 settled with the SEC, and righted its financial ship, with eight consecutive quarters of profitability, a generally rebounding stock price, and renewed market momentum.

"Michael became CEO during a critical time in our history, and brought a great deal of energy and passion to the position while leading us through many key initiatives, including stabilizing the company financially, improving our management foundation and setting the stage for future growth," said i2 Founder and Chairman Sanjiv Sidhu.

In parallel, i2 announced that Pallab Chatterjee, executive vice president, Solutions Operations, and chief delivery officer, was appointed interim chief executive officer. McGrath is expected to remain employed by i2 in an advisory capacity as CEO emeritus through October 31, 2007, and will continue to assist the board of directors with the search for a new CEO.

While McGrath enjoyed wide respect within i2, he was viewed by some as more of a fixer than a builder. Something occurred to move up McGrath’s departure date, before a permanent CEO was found.

“McGrath was really an operator. He successfully brought the business back to a more stable position,” Jeff Woods, a Vice President at Gartner, told SCDigest. “We expect the next stage of i2 development to be centered around executing an innovation partnership model with its customers and in closer coordination with ERP vendors. Customers should be looking to see if a new executive can execute on the necessary coordination with ERP strategies and vendors.”