With Gelsinger back at Intel, VMware picks new CEO from within, shakes up execs

vRangarajan vRaghuram is vBoss after vMotion to vTop

VMware has announced a new CEO and a major shakeup in its management team following the departure of Pat Gelsinger to head up Intel.

New chief exec Rangarajan (Raghu) Raghuram was the chief operating officer of products and cloud services at VMware, and has spent nearly 18 years at the virtualization giant. He's very much the industry veteran having started at Netscape in 1996 and also spending time at Bang Networks before joining VMware.

“I am thrilled to have Raghu step into the role of CEO at VMware,” Michael Dell, chairman of the VMware board of directors, said in a canned statement.

"Throughout his career, he has led with integrity and conviction, playing an instrumental role in the success of VMware. Raghu is now in position to architect VMware’s future, helping customers and partners accelerate their digital businesses in this multi-cloud world.”

Dell just spun out its stake in VMware, we note.

The appointment is part of a major executive reshuffle at VMware. Sumit Dhawan, who rejoined the company last year as chief customer officer after a stint away, has been named company president with a massive portfolio to manage, including heading up sales and partner operations, and well as marketing and comms jobs.

But Sanjay Poonen, VMware's overall chief operating officer, has announced he's leaving the tech titan after seven years at the corp. It's thought he was in the running for the top job, and has decided to move on following the reshuffle.

"I extend my warm congratulations to Raghu on his promotion to CEO and know he will take the company to new heights," Poonen said. "I will be cheering on the company’s success, as I embark on my next adventure."

VMware also used the announcement to tease its next set of financial results, due out at the end of the month. Sales for the past quarter are expected to be up around 10 per cent, year on year, at around $3bn, and VMware is predicting big increases in its SaaS revenues.

“VMware is uniquely poised to lead the multi-cloud computing era with an end-to-end software platform spanning clouds, the data center and the edge, helping to accelerate our customers’ digital transformations,” said Raghuram.

“I am honored, humbled and excited to have been chosen to lead this company to a new phase of growth. We have enormous opportunity, we have the right solutions, the right team, and we will continue to execute with focus, passion, and agility.” ®