EMC has hired Pat Gelsinger from Intel as part of a series of executive changes that seem aimed at ensuring a smooth leadership path for the storage company's future.
EMC on Monday said Gelsinger, who until recently was senior vice president and co-general manager of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group, has joined the company as president and COO for EMC information infrastructure products.
EMC also said that Howard Elias has been promoted to the position of president and COO for information infrastructure and cloud services at the company. He previously held the position of president, EMC Global Services and EMC Ionix.
Both Gelsinger and Elias will report to Joe Tucci, EMC's chairman and CEO, and join the storage company's executive office of the chairman. Others in the executive office of the chairman include Tucci; David Goulden, executive vice president and CFO; and Bill Teuber, vice chairman.
EMC also said on Monday that Tucci has informed the company's board of directors that he plans to remain in his position as chairman and CEO through 2012.
The decision by Tucci to stay at his current position, combined with the strengthening of EMC's executive team, can be seen as a move to ensure a smooth executive succession.
In his new position, Gelsinger will be responsible for EMC's information infrastructure product portfolio, which includes the company's information storage, RSA information security, content management and archiving, and Ionix IT management divisions.
Intel's Digital Enterprise Group accounts for more than half of Intel's annual revenue, and is responsible for Intel's enterprise products including products for PCs, servers, embedded systems, communications, visualization and storage. It also developed the company's Nehalem processor.
While at Intel, Gelsinger was the executive sponsor for both EMC and VMware, a company spokesperson said.
Intel has been a longtime storage technology partner of EMC, and VMware is committed to the Intel architecture, the spokesperson said.
