EMC Channel Chief Denies Post-Merger Exit, 'Jazzed About My Future With Dell'

EMC channel chief Gregg Ambulos is denying reports that he'll leave Dell after it closes its acquisition of EMC.

"Rumor mill is in overdrive, totally off base. Jazzed about my future role with Dell EMC (shhh, it's secret)!" Ambulos tweeted Wednesday afternoon after a British publication reported that he had been offered a job with the merged Dell Technologies, but turned it down and would leave the global IT behemoth.

Ambulos' denial comes as Dell Global Channel Chief John Byrne prepares to name the merged company's channel team in the coming weeks.

[Related: Dell Enterprise Boss Haas Promises 'White-Glove' Treatment For EMC Partners]

Sources have told CRN that Ambulos, as well as other high-level Dell and EMC sales and channel executives, will be offered positions with Dell Technologies.

Also, Dell Enterprise Solutions President Marius Haas has pledged that EMC partners will get "white glove" treatment in order to enable their growth and encourage them to pick up Dell product lines.

Ambulos talked up the nascent Dell Technologies program in a recent interview with CRN, saying, "If you look at what the two companies bring together and you had to place a bet on a company in the marketplace that is going to help you [evolve], the partners know that Dell Technologies as one company is a safe bet. We are going to help our partners make that transition, and they are going to be part of the process."

A top executive at a large solution provider that works with both Dell and EMC told CRN he met with Byrne and Ambulos recently, and that it seems clear that Ambulos will, in fact, remain with Dell post-merger, possibly as North America channel chief.

"I met with John Byrne and Gregg was there, and all [Byrne] said was that Gregg would have a significant role," the solution provider executive said, adding that the battle for the North America channel chief role could be between Ambulos and Jim DeFoe, a 20-year Dell veteran and the company's vice president of global commercial channel sales and programs.

"Both Gregg and Jim have been very supportive of us," the solution provider executive said. "Jim in more of a tactical manner, and Gregg designed and managed the hard deck at EMC. Either of them would be terrific."

Ambulos has been with Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC for nearly 20 years, and has been channel chief for 15 years.

Dell's acquisition of EMC will create a more-than $70 billion global IT conglomerate with products from consumer PCs to high-end data center infrastructure. The deal, worth $67 billion when proposed last October, is expected to close before the end of October.