VMware promotes cloud CTO to APAC, Japan CTO amid slew of exits

Enterprise software developer VMware, which has seen a few top deck exits in recent months, has appointed Guru Venkatachalam as chief technology officer (CTO) of its Asia Pacific and Japan operations. 

Prior to the new role, he was CTO of cloud architecture at the Palo Alto based company.

Venkatachalam’s appointment follows the retirement of Bruce Davie from the post, according to a statement released on Monday. Davie had joined VMware through its acquisition of Nicira in 2012.

The role leads VMware’s efforts to build partnerships with customers and partners in the region, and will also play an integral role in the further development of the company’s cloud, app modernization, networking, security, and digital workspace platforms, as per the statement.

Venkatachalam holds over 28 years of experience in the information and technology space with a focus on the financial services sector, the statement added.

“Guru is a seasoned industry leader who has driven large scale innovation and expanded our CXO engagement in Asia Pacific and Japan. I am delighted to have him in the role of CTO for APJ as we drive customer and partner engagement in the region and help enterprises transform with modern applications, cloud, digital workspace and security,” VMware CTO Greg Lavender said.

Separately, VMware is currently on the search for a new CEO, following a decision by Pat Gelsinger to step down from the position, effective February 12. Gelsinger is slated to replace Bob Swan as Intel’s CEO, mid-February.

The company is also undergoing a restructure with a set of January layoffs, impacting less than one percent of the total workforce, as per a CRN report on Wednesday. The job cuts affect about a few hundred employees from the 31,000 odd count of workers globally.

VMware also recently lost its COO to Nutanix, at the latter’s CEO appointment. Late December, VMware sued its former COO, Rajiv Ramaswami, for alleged material and ongoing breaches of his legal and contractual duties and obligations at VMware. It accused him of meeting Nutanix executives in his bid for the CEO position during the same time he was tasked with building and running VMware’s cloud business.

Since then, it has lost another cloud leader in Ajay Singh, who departed from VMware early January, to become chief product officer at Pure Storage. 

In other recent appointments that TechCirce reported in the enterprise software space, was IT major Wipro’s new country head in Brazil, Douglas Silva.