In this blog I look beyond the obvious and try to find out why people and companies do what they do - and what it means for the rest of us. 
Wow. End of another era. Dave was at EMC before me – as far as I know only Tom Heiser and Billy Scannell are the only ones there as long (consistently). Guy is one of the smartest people you’ll ever meet, tighter lipped than Bill Belichick, and has been groomed for bigger things for a long time. I never thought it would be outside of the EMC domain, but what the heck. Life happens.
According to the HP release, Dave will run a $20B server/storage business. He has run EMC’s largest business unit, and many felt he would be heir apparent to Joe Tucci when he left in a few years. I’m guessing Mr. Hurd did some talking and Dave (as always) did some listening. A $130B company has lots of things that are bigger to run potentially.
Or, it just could have been time for a change, but I doubt it. Dave has been at EMC since college. It must have been the opportunity to run something really big – right now.
HP got a star. I’ll even go so far as to say he will end up a potential heir to Mr. Hurd – they are both very smart and stunningly shy of the limelight. He will do good things at HP, as he has done for a million years at EMC.
It would be foolish to think he won’t be missed by EMC. I hate Manny Ramirez for leaving the Sox, but it doesn’t mean we’re a better team because he is gone. When any talented person leaves, it’s a bummer. Will it hurt EMC? I don’t think so. They are hugely deep and the team running that business has been around for a long, long time. Dave learned from Mike Ruettgers and years of running pretty much all the businesses, but he has already put into place everything they need to continue without much of a hiccup if at all. I doubt he would have considered leaving any other way, actually. He is the kind of guy to always make sure things are in order.
So it will infuse some new, rock solid executive talent into HP – giving Dave his next challenge – but don’t expect it to really mean anything negative to EMC. Good luck Dave.
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Tags: Donatelli, EMC, HP, non-compete, Tucci
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Are you nuts? Donatelli was an egomaniac with no idea how to deal with people, let alone run something well.
Wow this blog is so god damn awful. It’s as if you think that people want to hear what ever shit drivels out of your mouth
Uh oh, looks like there’s a lawsuit involved! This could get ugly….
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/29/emc_donatelli_lawsuits/