Lenovo Makes Former Intel IoT Exec Stevenson Data Center Group SVP Amid Broad Restructuring

Lenovo has brought another Intel veteran into its executive ranks, making Kim Stevenson senior vice president and general manager of its data center group. Meanwhile, Lenovo is restructuring that group into five distinct business units.

Stevenson's hiring puts a second former Intel exec at the top of Lenovo's data center group. The Beijing, China-based PC giant hired former Intel senior vice president Kirk Skaugen as head of the group last November.

Stevenson will lead a new "data center infrastructure" group at Lenovo and report to Skaugen. The group is one of five new units Lenovo has formed as it refines its data center strategy, including a software-defined data center group; a high-performance computing and artificial intelligence applications group; a hyperscale systems group and a data center services group.

Related: Lenovo Loses COO Gerry Smith, Head of Its PC Business, To Office Depot As PC Market Competition Intensifies

Stevenson left Intel in February, according to her LinkedIn profile. She had been with the company since 2009, most recently serving as COO of the company's client, IoT, and system architecture group. Her tenure at Intel included more than four years as chief information officer and more than two years as vice president and general manager of IT operations and services.

Lenovo has shuffled its executive deck several times in recent years as it confronts the challenges of a contracting PC market and struggles to settle on a strategy in the data center following its purchase of IBM's x86 server business for $2.3 billion about two years ago. Lenovo's share of the server market lags competitors including HPE, Dell EMC and IBM.

Some channel partners are waiting for more signs of stability. "We just can't win server deals with Lenovo," said Lou Giovanetti, co-founder of CPU Sales, a Waltham, Mass.-based solution provider that works with several vendors. "Lenovo, as a platform for us, is on hold until they figure things out. We currently lead with Dell, HP and Supermicro."

Lenovo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The other execs taking leadership of Lenovo's new data center units are from within the company. They are: Paul Ju, vice president and general manager of hyperscale; Madhu Matt, vice president and general manager of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence and Radhika Krishnan, executive director and general manager of software-defined data center. Laura Latrello, who already heads Lenovo's data center services business will continue as head of the new dedicated unit. They'll all report to Skaugen.

Skaugen was hired in a flurry of executive moves that included making former data center group boss Gerry Smith head of the company's PC business. Those moves followed closely behind the departure of Chris Frey, the company's high-profile commercial sales chief just 18 months after he took that job. Smith has since left the company, too. He became CEO of Office Depot in January.

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