VMware’s Executive Team Gets Google, HP, Cisco Alums

VMware’s executive team includes three new hires from outside the company, the company announced. The new faces – all women – hail from Rackspace, Iron Mountain and Google.

VMware’s Carol Carpenter

Carol Carpenter is the new chief marketing officer (CMO), while Sandy Hogan is the new senior vice president, worldwide commercial and partner sales. VMware also named Fidelma Russo its new senior vice president and general manager, cloud services business unit.

Sanjay Poonen, chief operating officer, commented on the new CMO.

“We are excited to have Carol bring her deep technology experience and industry prowess to VMware,” he said. “Carol’s passion for solving customer problems aligns well with VMware’s customer-first approach and her expertise will take our marketing team to new heights.”

Carpenter was global vice president of marketing, Google Cloud, where she worked for three-and-a-half years. However, she is a 25-year industry veteran. Carpenter will be responsible for leading all aspects of the global marketing organization, including corporate marketing, partner, segment and field marketing.

VMware’s Fidelma Russo

Robin Matlock, senior vice president and CMO at VMware, announced her retirement in April. Matlock worked at the company for 11 years. She joined the Iron Mountain board of directors last July. The industry veteran’s retirement sounds temporary.

Russo, also new to VMware’s executive team, has ties to Iron Mountain as well; her last job was there. She served as chief technical officer and executive vice president, global technology and operations. Russo, whose résumé includes positions at HP, Dell EMC and Digital Equipment Corp., was at Iron Mountain for three years.

Hogan, hired to oversee VMware’s renewed partner strategy and commercial go-to-market, had short stints at Rackspace and Here Technologies, respectively. But she spent 12 years in various roles at Cisco. Her last job at Cisco was global vice president, digital transformation group.

As senior vice president, worldwide commercial and partner sales at VMware, Hogan will lead a team focused on building a best-in-class partner community and generating growth and value.

VMware’s Sandy Hogan

In March, VMware launched VMware Partner Connect. This is the company’s rebuilt and reimagined partner program initially discussed more than a year ago. VMware Partner Connect aims to enable partners to do business with VMware in a way that aligns with their business model.