VMware Pulls New Leaders From ‘Deep Bench’ As Broadcom Merger Looms

‘Naturally this is a time of transition for VMware as we execute our multi-cloud technology strategy and navigate a pending acquisition,’ the company said in a statement provided by a spokesperson. ‘One way we’ve prepared for this transition is by building a deep bench of top talent aligned with our Multi-Cloud and SaaS transformation objectives.’

Umesh Mahajan, who will be taking over Tom Gillis’ role in VMware’s Networking and Advanced Security Business Group.

VMware said it was “prepared” for the departure of three of its top leaders who together were described as “driving much impact” across the business in critical areas such as security, and cloud infrastructure.

“Naturally this is a time of transition for VMware as we execute our multi-cloud technology strategy and navigate a pending acquisition,” the company said in a statement provided by a spokesperson. “One way we’ve prepared for this transition is by building a deep bench of top talent aligned with our Multi-Cloud and SaaS transformation objectives.”

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Tom Gillis, Mark Lohmeyer and Ajay Patel were leaving the company. The paper cited an internal memo written by VMware CEO Raghu Raghuram as the source of the news. The memo praised all the three men for several years of leadership and impact across the business.

[RELATED: Broadcom’s ‘Initial Focus’ For VMware Will Be To Develop Partnerships, Not R&D: CEO]

CRN asked a company spokesperson whether VMware could still achieve its various business objectives following the departure of Gillis, Lohmeyer and Patel.

“VMware’s multi-cloud technology strategy remains the same – to help customers accelerate innovation and navigate multi-cloud complexity through a cloud smart approach,” the company wrote in response to CRN.

VMware named the folks who were part of the company’s “deep bench of top talent” that would be replacing the outgoing leaders.

Gillis’ role in VMware’s Networking and Advanced Security Business Group will be taken by Umesh Mahajan. He is currently senior vice president and general manager of the Networking Security Business Unit.. Mahajan is now Responsible for NSX platform that encompasses L2-L7 integrated networking services for on-prem, public cloud and cloud native deployments, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was previously at Cisco where he was general manager of data center switching.

Lohmeyer’s role in the Cloud Infrastructure Business Group will be filled by Krish Prasad, senior vice president and general manager, Cloud Infrastructure Platform. His responsibilities now involve leading the business unit responsible for “VMware‘s Cloud platform products that power Private Clouds, the VMware Cloud on AWS and the VMware solutions for IoT/Edge,” his LinkedIn profile states.

Patel’s role as general manager of applications and management business will be filled by Purnima Padmanabhan. Padmanabhan has been with VMware for six years. She is now the senior vice president and general manager, cloud management. She graduated USC with a degree in computer engineering and has an MBA from Stanford University.

Meanwhile, VMware said Jason Rolleston will now lead the company’s security business unit.

Broadcom’s proposed $61 billion takeover of VMware is still in regulatory limbo as it has languished for five months with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission which is investigating whether the deal is a threat to commerce. Meanwhile the European Commission has only just begun its look at the deal, setting a Dec. 20 deadline to announce its next move.