30 Notable IT Executive Moves: July 2013

Start It Off

July was a huge month for executive changes, from two high-profile CEOs stepping down to a major corporate re-organization at Microsoft and a lots of channel executive shuffling. Here's a look at the highlights.

Kevin Johnson

Juniper Networks CEO Kevin Johnson unexpectedly announced he was retiring just prior to the networking company's second-quarter earnings announcement. Johnson had served as chief executive since joining Juniper in 2008 and is credited with establishing Juniper as a major challenger to Cisco's dominance in the networking market. Prior to Juniper, John had a long career at Microsoft where he served as group vice president of worldwide sales, marketing and services as well as president of the Windows and Online Services division. Juniper is currently searching for a full-time replacement.

Andrew Miller

July saw another unexpected CEO resignation with Polycom chief executive Andrew Miller, who stepped down after an audit committee commissioned by Polycom's board of directors discovered "irregularities" in Miller's expense reports. The videoconferencing company is currently searching for a full-time replacement. Miller had served as CEO since 2010; he joined the company in 2009 as executive vice president of global field operations and previously served as CEO of Polycom rival Tandberg.

Jere Brown

Jere Brown, CEO for Dimension Data Americas, announced he is retiring from the company this fall. Brown helped turn the systems integrator into a global IT and cloud services powerhouse. A longtime veteran of the company, Brown previously served as vice president of sales for Dimension Data North America before being appointed CEO in 2006. Prior to Dimension Data, he served in a number of executive roles at Sitel and Inacom.

Mark Slaga

Stepping in for the retiring Jere Brown is Mark Slaga, who will take over at CEO of Dimension Data Americas. Slaga has spent 13 years with the company, most recently as COO of Dimension Data Americas, and also served as chief technology officer and senior vice president of solutions. Prior to Dimension Data, he spent several years at EB Networks and RPM Consulting.

Terry Myerson

Microsoft's highly anticipated corporate restructuring took place last month and there were some big moves, starting with Terry Myerson, former corporate vice president of Microsoft's Windows Phone division, taking over as executive vice president of the Operating Systems group. Prior to working on Windows Phone, Myerson was in charge of the Microsoft Exchange business. A 16-year veteran of Microsoft, he first joined the company in 1997 when Microsoft acquired his Web software company Interse Corp.

Julie Larson-Green

Microsoft also promoted 20-year veteran Julie Larson-Green to the role of executive vice president of Devices and Studios, where she'll manage hardware development for Microsoft Surface, Xbox and other accessories as well as video game and entertainment software development. Larson-Green previously served as corporate vice president for the Windows experience and also took over as president of the Windows and Windows Live division following the departure of Steve Sinofsky last fall.

Tony Bates

Former Skype CEO Tony Bates was tapped to run Microsoft's new Business Development and Evangelism Group, in which he'll focus on partnerships with OEMs, technology vendors and software developers. Bates joined Microsoft in 2011 following the acquisition of Skype and was most recently president of Microsoft's Skype division. Before running Skype, he spent time at Cisco where he notably served as senior vice president and general manager of Cisco's Enterprise, Commercial and Small Business Group.

Qi Lu

Microsoft promoted Qi Lu to the role of executive vice president of Microsoft's Applications and Services Group, where he'll lead the Microsoft's productivity, communications, search and platforms businesses. He previously served as president of Microsoft's Online Services division where he drove the companies Web portal, search and advertising businesses. Lu joined Microsoft in 2008 after spending 10 years at Yahoo, most recently serving as executive vice president of engineering for the Search and Advertising Technology Group.

Satya Nadella

Microsoft has moved Satya Nadella to the role of executive vice president of Microsoft's Cloud and Enterprise group. Nadella will be responsible for the software giant's computing platforms, cloud services and developer tools. A 20-year veteran of Microsoft, Nadella most recently served as the president of Microsoft's Server and Tools Businesses and also spent time as senior vice president of research and development for the Online Services Division. He joined Microsoft in 1992 from Sun Microsystems.

Tami Reller

Microsoft tapped Tami Reller as its new executive vice president of the company's Marketing Group where she'll focus on end-user marketing for both consumers and businesses. Reller formerly served two simultaneous positions at Microsoft: chief marketing officer and chief financial officer for the Windows division. She joined Microsoft in 2001 when the company acquired Great Plains Software; Reller joined Great Plains in 1984.

Kurt DelBene

As part of the corporate restructuring, Microsoft announced Kurt DelBene, president of Microsoft's Office Division, has retired from the company. DelBene joined Microsoft in 1992 and has served in a number of top executive roles on the product development side. Prior to running Microsoft Office, he served as senior vice president of the Microsoft Business Division. Before joining Microsoft, DelBene was a consultant at McKinsey and Company.

Jim Hagemann Snabe

SAP will no longer have two chief executives. The software company announced that Jim Hagemann Snabe will step down as co-CEO next May, leaving Bill McDermott as the sole CEO of SAP. Snabe will also resign from the board of directors and take a seat on the company's supervisory board. He became co-CEO with McDermott in 2010 after the resignation of former chief executive Leo Apotheker. Snabe joined SAP in 1990 and served in a number of executive roles, including senior vice president and chief operations officer of SAP's business solution group.

Ray Ozzie

HP added several new board members last month, the most notable of which is former Microsoft and Lotus executive Ray Ozzie, who developed the popular email program Lotus Notes. After leaving Lotus following its acquisition by IBM in 1995, Ozzie founded Groove Networks. He joined Microsoft in 2005 after Groove was acquired by the software giant and spent several years in top executive roles, most notably taking over as Microsoft's chief software architect following Bill Gates' retirement. Ozzie left Microsoft in 2010.

Rick Jackson

VMware lost more top executives this month starting with Rick Jackson, who left to the company to become chief marketing officer at Rackspace Hosting. Jackson most recently served as VMware's chief marketing officer for nearly five years. Prior to VMware, he led marketing efforts at Borland and also served as senior vice president of worldwide marketing at BEA Systems.

Julie Hens

Cisco promoted Julie Hens to vice president of worldwide distribution where she'll oversee the networking company's distribution sales strategy and inventory management. Hens previously served as head of Cisco's Americas distribution business. She has been with Cisco for 14 years, beginning her career in the service provider sales organization and later moving into IT distribution. Prior to Cisco, Hens was a vice president and general manager at Entex Information Services.

Bogomil Balkansky

VMware also saw Bogomil Balkansky depart. Balkansky most recently served as senior vice president of cloud infrastructure products, where he helped drive VMware's strategy and management of its cloud services business. He also spent time in product marketing roles at the virtualization company. Prior to joining VMware in 2005, he spent several years as a group manager at Siebel Systems and Oracle. Balkansky was replaced by John Gilmartin, formerly vice president of products for VMware's storage business.

Scott Musson

VMware also saw Scott Musson, formerly senior director of global strategic alliances, leave the company to join Red Hat. Musson was named vice president of global strategic alliances at the open source software maker. He spent more than seven years at VMware in a variety of roles. Before joining the virtualization company, Musson also held several positions at HP, Compaq, Dell and NCR.

Sandy Waller

HP tapped Sandy Waller to head up its new push in the small and midsize business market. Waller, an 18-year veteran of HP, was officially named director of U.S. SMB sales for HP's Printing and Personal Systems (PPS) group. She'll be responsible for building up HP's PC and printer sales in the SMB space. Waller previously served as district sales manager for HP's enterprise team.

Steven Hagler

HP brought back a familiar face to lead its new Moonshot server business. The company tapped Steve Hagler as senior director, HP Moonshot Americas, where he will lead the business development, strategy and sales efforts for HP's new server line. A longtime HP executive, Hagler first joined the company in 1986 and served a number of roles, including director of distribution partner sales, before leaving in 2011 to become group vice president of distribution and volume resell at SAP.

John Spiliotis

Avaya saw two of its top channel executives depart the company last month, starting with John Spiliotis, former vice president of global channels. Spiliotis left Avaya to become vice president of Americas sales at Palo Alto Networks. Prior to joining Avaya in 2010, he served in a number of executive roles at Ericsson, Redback Networks and Extreme Networks. Spiliotis also spent a number of years at Cisco in vice president roles.

Tom Mitchell

Avaya is also losing Tom Mitchell, senior vice president of global sales. Mitchell announced he is resigning from the company effective Sept. 30 and transferring duties to Pierre-Paul Allard, formerly Avaya's senior vice president of global strategy and development. Prior to joining Avaya, Mitchell spent several years working as an independent IT consultant. He also served as a senior vice president at Cisco and worked for several years at Motorola in various sales and marketing roles.

Bob Skelley

Dell consolidated two of its channel leadership teams and named Bob Skelley as head of Dell's global channel programs and partner enablement. Skelley formerly served as executive director of Dell's Global Certified Partner Program, where he oversaw the company's channel development programs. In his new role, Skelley will also be responsible for channel marketing. Skelley joined Dell in 2008 when the company acquired EqualLogic, where he served as global vice president of channel strategy and operations. He previously worked at Microsoft in a channel role.

Kathy Schneider

As part of Dell's channel team consolidation, Kathy Schneider, formerly executive director of global channel marketing programs, has left the company. Schneider had been in charge of Dell's worldwide channel marketing efforts for VARs, distributors and OEM partners. She joined Dell in 1999 and served in a number of management roles, including director of channel operations for Dell's EMEA business and director of marketing for Dell's U.K. and Ireland business.

Jim McNiel

FalconStor President and CEO Jim McNiel unexpectedly resigned from his post and from the board of directors last month. McNiel joined FalconStor in 2009 as chief strategy officer of the storage company and was promoted to CEO in 2011. Prior to FalconStor, he served as executive vice president of corporate development at Cheyenne Software. McNiel also spent time as a general partner at Pequot Ventures (now FirstMark Capital). Gary Quinn, executive vice president and COO, will assume McNiel's duties on an interim basis.

Tom Miller

Solution provider Net@Work tapped Sage channel executive Tom Miller for a new role as head of the company's channel partner practice. Miller most recent served as vice president of channel management for Sage North America since 2009 before stepping down earlier this year. In his new role, Miller will manage Net@Work's Alliance Partner Program and develop the company's overall channel strategy.

Kevin Gavin

Talari Networks has appointed ShoreTel executive Kevin Gavin as its new chief marketing officer. Gavin previously served as ShoreTel's CMO since 2007. He'll oversee all marketing efforts and programs for the WAN virtualization startup. Prior to joining Talari, Gavin held other CMO and marketing management roles at GoBeam Communications, InterConnect, and Nextel Communications.

Rob Rae

Datto has appointed former Level Platforms executive Rob Rae as its new vice president of business development. Rae was previously the director of partner development and operations at Level Platforms. In his new role, Rae will work with Datto partners to help drive product adoption and channel sales for the company's disaster recovery products. Prior to Level Platforms, Rae held sales management roles at Ceridian and HP.

Chris Brandon

GreenBytes named Chris Brandon as its new vice president, Solutions Architecture and Technical Services, where he'll be responsible for the company's virtual desktop optimization products. Brandon most recently served as Xsigo Systems as technical director of EMEA. He also worked as technical director of EMEA for Oracle's virtual networking business and spent time at British Telecom (BT) and EMC, among others.

Jeffrey Benck

Emulex has promoted President and COO Jeffrey Benck to the role of CEO and a member of the board of directors. Benck replaces James McCluney, who stepped down after serving as Emulex's CEO since 2006. Benck joined Emulex in 2008 as COO and was later promoted to president. Prior to joining the network management company, he served as president and COO of QLogic and spent nearly 20 years at IBM roles in various leadership and management positions, including vice president of IBM's xSeries servers.

Amol Joshi

Zappix named Amol Joshi as its new president and CEO, succeeding former chief executive Saadia Ozeri. Joshi comes to Zappix from IBM, where he served as senior vice president of Emptoris' sales and services, Americas and India. He worked at Emptoris, a SaaS company specializing in supply chain and contract management, prior to its acquisition by IBM last year. He has also held management roles with Sterlite Technologies, Demantra, and Aspen Technology.