You may have Dave and he may be free to work on storage now but we got the nearest thing to God in this business; we got Gelsinger. So anyway, you’re sucking up to Microsoft with this FrontLine schtick and putting in a quarter of a billion to get your products skin-to-skin with Hyper-V and System Center and whatever but it don’t amount to much at all really because we’re mounting a flanker on you.

Yep, we got NetApp, those Sunnyvale boy scouts, cosying up to Cisco and VMware and saying they’re better partners for them than we are at Hopkinton – like anybody will believe that, really! Chambers won’t be there – that tells everybody what he thinks about it – but it’s VMware baby, ESX all the way. Sure, NetApp has its Microsoft affair going full blast too but VMware is where the action is and everybody knows it.

We’ll have Paul Maritz sitting alongside Tom G at the VCN event on the 26th and he’ll pour smooth sauce all over Microsoft. He should be able to do that; he worked at Redmond alongside Ballmer. Hyper-V sucks; we all know it, it’s the Vista of virtualisation, we just can’t say it – yet.

So what’s the real story with Donatelli? Because this ain’t it. Is it going to be this big EVA re-jig thing with X86 controllers taking on different storage personalities? You ducked starting over with the high-end refresh, going with that USP-V-on-steroids thing coming out of HDS. The Frontline money had to come from somewhere, right? Good luck. While that’s getting started we’re coining it with V-Max, like FAST – geddit? Hah!

No, Donatelli’s playground is gonna be the EVA re-invention. Mark, we looked at this. I mean seriously, we did. But the customers want differentiation, they want to buy different iron, different brands for different jobs. Why else do you think we can get ten times as much for our stuff than yours? Just having software identities won’t cut it. Look at NetApp. They really only got one product and there they are, stuck. Yeah, they’re bigger than the chorus line suppliers, the 3PARs, the Compellents, the Pillars whatever. But they’re not a star. They’re not EMC.

Give Warmenhoven credit, he tried to go our way by buying Data Domain, parading Slootman like a big country club trophy at his all hands meeting. A lotta good it did him once the Hopkinton dogs barked and showered dollars all over the floor. Now Slootman is mine and Dan? He’s off polishing his putter, flying his jet between golf courses, and out of it with Georgens running the show.

These guys are dancing to our tune and you’ve got no chance with Hyper-V. Gelsinger is a God-driven dynamo and you’ll find Donatelli is a fish out of the water. He’s maybe got one good product refresh in him and than that’s it. He’ll become another one of the worn-out has-been execs you inherited when you walked into HP.

No, Donatelli won’t cut it. Word is he’s already pissed off Roberson. Maybe I’ll have HR give Roberson a call, eh? Would you like that? We could give him CLARiiON or Celerra or something like that to play with.

Hey, that’s enough for now. I gotta look at the new candidate acquisition list. What; Pillar? Really? Okay, you got Workman’s number… No, better call Larry first.

© Don Joey for Gestalt IT, 2010. | What Are HP and Hurd Up To?
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This change should not come as news to anyone who closely watches the company. Georgens was said to be the most-likely successor for Warmenhoven since his hiring in 2005 to lead NetApp’s enterprise storage systems group. He previously led LSI’s Engenio subsidiary and has experience at EMC as well. Analysts speak of Georgens with respect and expect little immediate change in the company’s strategy.

NetApp’s press release went out at 4:05 Eastern time, just after the close of the stock market. First-quarter 2010 financial results were announced at the same time, further diluting the market effects of the transition. The company’s stock was trading down slightly after-hours, but no major market movement is expected as a result of the transition. Warmenhoven will remain with the company for a short time before his expected retirement in 2010.

This executive succession stands in contrast to many companies inside and out of the storage industry. Many have speculated, for example, about who might be picked to replace Joe Tucci at the helm of NetApp rival, EMC, but no clear successor has emerged. No company’s succession plan has drawn more speculation than Apple, which has been tightly tied to the fortunes of CEO Steve Jobs. Both could learn a lesson from this gentle NetApp transition.

© Stephen Foskett for Gestalt IT, 2009. | NetApp Shows How CEO Succession Should Work
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