Quantum signs Belluzzo as CEO

Where did the start-up idea go?

Quantum Corp has appointed Richard Belluzzo as its CEO with effect from September 3. He will replace Michael Brown who has held the post for seven years.

Belluzzo was once a fixture at Hewlett-Packard Co where he served for over 20 years before leaving to head up Silicon Graphics Inc. Less than two years later, he was lured to Microsoft Corp where in February 2001 he was promoted to chief operating officer and effective third in command to Gates and Ballmer.

There he was in charge of developing such initiatives as Xbox and .NET, as well as attempting to commercialize its MSN web portal. However, in April of this year, amid rumors of personal and stylistic differences with the latter, Belluzzo resigned and at the time expressed an intention to start his own business.

Instead he has now resurfaced at the Milpitas, California-based storage vendor where he will be responsible for developing its range of data-protection and networked-storage products. Nothing in his past particularly gives him a track record in these technologies. At HP and Microsoft, his focus was predominantly on the consumer-facing rather than the data center end of the business.

However, with most operators in the sector trundling out storage management software, it may be that his credentials in that area will come in handy. Quantum has also indicated that it is interested in expanding its range of tape automation and NAS servers toward the mass market.

© ComputerWire