Last week, I joined Paul Maritz of VMware, and Pat Gelsinger and David Goulden of EMC, on a call with analysts and the press to discuss the leadership appointments we just announced and why we made them now. Here is a summary of what I said on the call:
We are seeing a transformation in the IT industry unlike anything we have seen before. Organizations are moving quickly to adopt cloud computing and take advantage of both the efficiency and agility that comes with running IT-as-a-service. They are also looking to build a new generation of Big Data applications to gain competitive advantage and differentiate their businesses. And they demand that all this be done in a secure and trusted way. EMC is widely recognized as a leader and driver of this transformation.
Paul Maritz and the VMware team have done a stellar job taking virtualization, and vSphere in particular, to be the default way of running server applications, and they have broadened VMware’s strategy to address the big changes that are occurring as IT moves into the cloud era. Now comes the opportunity to capitalize on all this work: for VMware to become the leader in building out the complete software-defined data center, orchestrating compute, storage, networking and security resources, while providing automation and management, supporting and building both existing and new applications, and providing solutions for a multi-device, post-PC world. In essence, VMware is embarking upon the next leg of its exciting journey.
We’re at a logical intersection with VMware moving to the next phase of cloud computing with the software-defined data center and solving the problems of the post-PC era. Likewise, EMC faces tremendous opportunities in Big Data, and new cloud applications, flash and FAST [Fully Automated Storage Tiering] software technologies are changing the face of storage. And, of course, everything we do in the cloud has to ensure that our customers’ environments are secure.
EMC has a great strategy, and we’re executing on it well. So, this represents an excellent time to introduce new leadership. One of the things I’ve learned through my career is that the time to make leadership changes is during a position of strength, when you’re performing well and when you have customer permission to play in new markets. And customers are giving us permission to play in these new markets.
We already have a strong management team that becomes stronger as a result of these appointments. Paul Maritz will join EMC as Chief Strategist and will spend the majority of his time working directly with our efforts in Big Data and the next generation of cloud-oriented applications. Pat Gelsinger is a natural fit to succeed Paul Maritz as CEO of VMware. And David Goulden steps up to the role of President and Chief Operating Officer of EMC. This bodes well for the future leadership of both EMC and VMware. I am fully committed to stay on as Chairman of both EMC and VMware, as well as CEO of EMC, and I remain convinced that my successor will come from within. I truly love EMC and VMware. Our people and our executive leadership teams are truly special. And I am incredibly energized by the opportunities we have ahead of us.
