Opscode, the company behind the open source IT management tool Chef, has changed its name to Chef as it announced a US$32m capital infusion and three new appointments to its executive team.

The Seattle-based company's CEO Barry Crist said the name change was made for simplicity and clarity. The Opscode team developed Chef and the name has substantial brand recognition, he wrote in a blog post, announcing the decision. He said it was “simpler to invest in one brand than two.”

The company's software tool automates configuration of IT resources, including cloud infrastructure, for specific applications to simplify deployment. It is a popular tool used by teams using the DevOps (development and operations) approach to software development, where IT and development teams work closely together as they iterate through software product releases.

Crist acknowledged both the fact that the tool has taken advantage of many important contributions from its open source community and that there were many companies that used Chef as part of their own solutions. Still, “there is only one Chef, the company,” he wrote.

The latest (Series D) funding round came from existing investors and two new ones: Citi Ventures and Scale Ventures. The existing backers that joined the round were Ignition Partners, DFJ and Battery Ventures.

Chef will use the new funds to grow its team and operations, Crist wrote. “You'll see us double in size over the next year.”

One of the three new appointees to Chef's executive team is Curt Anderson, who joins the company as CFO. He joins the company after a multiple-role tenure at Microsoft, preceded by a leadership position at Amazon.com.

As CFO of Microsoft's Manufacturing and Supply Chain group, Anderson oversaw financial planning, operations and controls for supply chains for all of the giant's hardware and software products. Another role he has held at Microsoft was that of CFO of its Server and Tools division, managing more than US$20bn in annual revenue.

Commenting on his appointment, Anderson highlighted Chef's key strengths, which were “accelerating” revenue, strong traction with Fortune 1000 companies and an active open-source community. “With the new funding and a deeply experienced executive team, we’re well positioned to invest in our growth and capitalize on the huge market opportunity for IT automation and software delivery,” he said.

Other additions to Chef's executive team are CA Technologies' Tucker Callaway, joining as VP of enterprise, and Apptio's Tom Murphy, taking VP of services role at the software firm.