Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) CEO Dave Roberson has jumped ship to
join (HP as senior vice president and general manager of the
company's enterprise storage business, effective May 30, according
to HP.
HDS has promoted Minoru Kosuge to CEO and Jack Domme to chief
operating officer.
"We will miss Dave … [but] HP and Hitachi have been longstanding
partners for many years … Dave's presence at HP will … enable us to
further build and strengthen an already strong partnership and take
it to new heights," said Mary Ann Gallo, director of global public
relations at HDS, in an email to SearchStorage.com.
While both companies are doing their best to paint a rosy picture
of the announcement, slipping it over the wires on the eve of a
major public holiday is usually a signal that they would rather not
draw too much attention to the news.
"We are not ready to discuss the decision at this time," said an
official spokesperson for HP.
According to HP's press release, Roberson will report to Scott
Stallard, senior vice president and general manager of HP
Enterprise Servers and Storage. He succeeds Bob Schultz, who has
continued to run HP StorageWorks after his appointment in January
to senior vice president and general manager of the newly formed HP
Enterprise Server and Storage Software organization.
HP reported disappointing storage results for its second quarter
announced in May. Storage revenue grew just 1% following 3%
year-over-year growth in the first quarter. The company blamed weak
high-end storage and tape sales for the slowdown. Meanwhile HDS
made a round of job cuts in Oct. 2006 and has been reshuffling its
executive team ever since.
Analysts say the instability at the executive level at both
companies has clearly taken its toll but hopefully both are now on
track.