StorageTek Sales Exec Exits Company

Mark Ward, who served as StorageTek's vice president of North American sales, is no longer with the company effective Thursday, a StorageTek spokesperson confirmed. Ward left the Louisville, Colo.-based company for personal reasons, according to the spokesperson.

Ward's duties have been assumed by Mike McGuire, vice president of field sales and services, the spokesperson said. McGuire, a 20-plus-year StorageTek veteran, reports directly to Patrick Martin, chairman, president and CEO.

Industry and channel sources said Ward was being groomed as a possible successor to Martin. One solution provider, who requested anonymity, said he was sorry to see Ward go, noting that Ward--who joined StorageTek from EMC--had been making headway in decreasing StorageTek's reliance on its tape business and transforming it into a full-range provider of storage devices.

"The good thing is, Ward was inserted [into the StorageTek executive team], and other people just got shifted around," the solution provider said. "So there isn't a hole in StorageTek per se. StorageTek won't skip much of a beat."