The Departed: 2008 Big Year (So Far) For Executive Exits

We're only roughly six months into 2008, but so far it seems high up executives at many major technology companies are flying the coup. Whether they're resigning, retiring, being fired, or a combination of several factors, there have been several notable departures this year. Here we take a look at some of the key executives that have left or announced plans to leave their posts in 2008.

ProCurve's 'Godfather' Departs

John McHugh, part of the HP family since 1982, left his position as vice president and worldwide general manager of HP's ProCurve Networking division. McHugh built the ProCurve brand from the ground up, making it a $1 billion plus company. The vendor offered little insight into McHugh's departure when it confirmed his exit this week, keeping secret when McHugh left, his reasons for leaving and where he'll land next.

John Barker, president of Marlborough, Mass.-based solution provider Versatile Communications, said he was unsure of the circumstances around McHugh's departure, but credited him as being the "Godfather of ProCurve," and added he had nothing but respect McHugh.

Cisco's Data Center Guru Steps Down

Jayshree Ullal, the face of Cisco's Data Center 3.0 vision and the executive who single-handedly generated millions of dollars for the San Jose, Calif.-based networking giant, announced in May that she's leaving her position as senior vice president of data center, switching and services.

Ullal ran a portion of Cisco that raked in $12 billion last year. She was responsible for roughly $10 billion in direct revenue and $15 billion in direct revenue.

Ullal joined Cisco in 1993.

In a blog post announcing her departure, Ullal wrote: "I expect that Cisco will continue to innovate, capture growth opportunities and market share to meet our customers' needs for Cisco's Data Center 3.0 vision. It has been my privilege to lead this team and I have full faith in our future driving Cisco's vision for transforming the data center. As for the inevitable question of what I plan to do next. I hope to re-kindle passions for my next new gig this summer and make an informed decision later this year."

IBM's Channel Chief Steps Down

In April, Ravindra "Ravi" Marwaha, announced he was retiring as general manager of IBM global business partners. Marwaha announced his retirement in front of an audience of IBM solution providers and business partners during the IBM Business Partner Leadership Conference in Los Angeles.

He is leaving Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM after a 40-year career that included leadership positions in IBM's Personal Computing Division and Personal Systems Group. In 2005, Marwaha joined Lenovo when IBM sold its PC division, but returned to IBM just more than a year later to head the company's global business partner activities.

IBM Senior VP Retires

Senior vice president of IBM's Systems and Technology Group, William "Bill" Zeitler, announced in May that he will retire on Aug 1.

At the same time, IBM announced that Nicolas Donofrio, executive vice president of innovation and technology, plans to retire on Oct. 1 after 44 years with the Armonk, N.Y.-based computing giant.

Dell CFO Steps Aside

Don Carty last month announced plans to resign as CFO of Dell effective June 13. The Round Rock, Texas-based Dell plans to replace Carty with Brian Gladden, who joined Dell in May as senior vice president.

Carty joined Dell as vice chairman and CFO in January 2007, after he had retired in 2003 as chairman and CEO of AMR and American Airlines, where he had served since 1998. He will remain on Dell's board.

SAP Chairman Plans Retirement

In April, SAP CEO Henning Kagermann announced that he'll retire in May 2009 when his current contract expires. SAP later announced that Leo Apotheker, who was deputy CEO, was promoted to co-CEO with Kagermann in preparation for Apotheker taking the reins of the Walldorf, Germany-based software vendor.

3Com Channel Chief Phased Out

3Com ousted vice president of worldwide channels Nick Tidd in March, as the Marlborough, Mass.-based vendor shifted its focus to a more regionalized channel model.

Tidd held the channel chief post with 3Com for more than two years and had been with the company since 1997.

"3Com has made a decision that they need to be closer to their customers," Tidd said in an interview during his last week, adding that 3Com's shift would focus more on "direct touch" and "regional channel programs" going forward.

AMD CTO Pursues Other Opportunities

Phil Hester, CTO for Advanced Micro Devices, announced in April that he's leaving the chip maker "to pursue other opportunities."

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD said the CTO position would not be filled and Hester's duties will be taken on by executives in individual business units.

Google's CIO Says 'See Ya'

Google's Douglas Merrill, the company's CIO, announced in April that he's leaving the Web giant to become president of digital business at EMI Music, a division of EMI Group.

Merrill joined Google in 2003 and led several strategic efforts, including its IPO and the launch of Google Checkout in 2006. In 2007, he was integral in turning around Google's radio advertising business and was asked by Google CEO Eric Schmidt to drive Google's business development in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.

Merrill's departure followed the exit of Sheryl Sandberg one month earlier. Sandberg left Google as vice president for global sales and operations to become COO at Facebook.

Oracle Loses Channel Chief

Doug Kennedy, Oracle's top channel chief, left the company in March to join Microsoft as vice president of the company's Dynamics Partners organization, the software giant's line of ERP, financial and CRM applications.

Kennedy ran Oracle's worldwide alliances and channel organizations. Oracle swiftly named Judson Althoff, vice president of global platform and distribution sales and the head of Oracle's Technology Channel Program Office, to fill Kennedy's post.

More Channel Exits At Oracle

Doug Kennedy's departure as channel chief at Oracle came hot on the heels of Rauline Ochs, senior vice president of North American alliances and channels, stepping down to take a job with Seattle-based Safeco.

Ochs had been widely credited with transforming the software giant into a channel-friendly company. She was named the 2007 Channel Executive of the Year by Everything Channel.

At the time of his departure, Ochs said: "I am personally sad to leave Oracle, the industry and partners."

Suns Global Sales And Services Head Jumps To HP

Earlier this month, Sun Microsystems' head of global sales and services Don Grantham, announced he's leaving the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company to take a new position at Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard.

Grantham, a nine-year Sun veteran, was credited with making Sun more channel-friendly. He had held his global sales and services chief position for the past three years. Grantham was replaced by Peter Ryan, who joined Sun in 2006 as senior vice president of global sales and services for Sun's Europe, Middle East and Africa territories. A year later, Ryan was appointed senior vice president of global sales for the Americas.

SonicWall Channel Chief Skips Out

John DiLullo, SonicWall's channel chief for nearly two years, unexpectedly stepped down from his post as vice president of worldwide channel sales in January. After DiLullo's departure, SonicWall replaced him with Marvin Blough, an eight-year veteran who had previously led the North American sales organization.

Despite the shifts, SonicWall predicted solid growth for the channel program DiLullo had led and promised to remain committed to the channel.

Microsoft's Second In Command Man Splits

Jeff Raikes, the top executive in Microsoft's business software division, announced in January that he would retire in September.

Raikes made his name as second hand man to Chairman Bill Gates. He was recruited to Microsoft in 1981 and, in 2005, was named president of Microsoft's Business Division.

Raikes is responsible for many of Microsoft's most profitable applications, including Office, and in the first quarter of 2008 his division generated roughly $4 billion in sales.

Raikes has been tapped to head up the Gates Foundation, the Microsoft chairman's philanthropic organization.

A Two-Year Exit

It's been two years in the making, but Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has been slowly weaning himself off of day-to-day duties in anticipation of his pending retirement, which is supposed to be effective come July.

Since the Microsoft icon announced his plans in June 2006, he's continued to serve as chairman. He has also planned to stay around as an adviser on key development projects even after he gives up his full time duties.