New COO Jeff Clarke Knows Dell Technologies ‘Inside And Out’

Dell Technologies on Monday unveiled that Vice Chairman Jeff Clarke will now be responsible for the company’s day-to-day business operations as Dell’s new Chief Operating Officer.

Michael Dell’s right-hand man and longtime Dell leader Jeff Clarke is taking on even more responsibility as Dell Technologies’ new chief operating officer.

The Round Rock, Texas-based infrastructure giant unveiled on Monday that Clarke’s role as vice chairman will be expanded as the new COO to include oversight of day-to-day business operations, working closely with executives across Dell Technologies. Clarke is currently responsible for leading the company’s Client Solutions Group, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Global Supply Chain and working with VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger to drive innovation and integration.

Michael Goldstein, CEO of LAN Infotech, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Dell partner, said there is no better executive to lead Dell’s day-to-day operations than Clarke. “Jeff is the right guy for the COO job,” said Goldstein. “He knows Dell inside and out and has been working alongside Michael Dell for more than 30 years.”

[Related: Channel Shocker: Marius Haas Is Out At Dell]

Clarke joined Dell in 1987 as a quality engineer and has served in a variety of executive engineering and leadership roles over the past 32 years. He has been leading Dell’s charge over the past few years around revamping various product lines such as storage, networking and servers to drive simplicity, as well as internally restructuring of the company.

"Jeff has been a trusted adviser to me for more than 30 years," said Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies in a statement. "Jeff is well regarded by the industry, our board, key stakeholders and team members. The way he intersects our technology vision with operational excellence makes him the ideal COO and partner."

Bob Venero, CEO of Holbrook, N.Y.-based solution provider Future Tech, No. 101 on the CRN 2019 SP500, said he is confident Clarke will drive breakthrough operational efficiencies as COO.

“Jeff Clarke is an amazing leader operationally,” said Venero. “Operationally there is no one better in our industry right now than Jeff. He is a process animal and a born COO. There is no doubt that will exceed all expectations in his new job.”

One of Clarke’s great strengths is his understanding of the intricacies of the channel, said Venero. “Jeff understands the value of the channel and the importance of supporting the growing channel partner business,” he said.

Clarke taking over the COO reins means he will be responsible for shaping Dell’s strategic agenda and aligning priorities across Dell Technologies executive leadership team, which includes the leaders of Dell EMC, VMware, SecureWorks, Pivotal, RSA and Virtustream. He also oversees the engineering, design, development and sales for the majority of Dell’s products including end-user computing software, data protection, desktop, networking, notebook, servers, storage and workstation solutions.

During Dell’s recent third fiscal quarter earnings , Clarke was bullish about his company’s future.

“Dell Technologies is innovating and integrating solutions across our entire portfolio to create the technology infrastructure of the future for our customers,” said Clarke. “Our highly differentiated set of offerings enables us to continue to win in a consolidating industry, while also driving long-term value for all stakeholders.”

In other Dell news on Monday, the company revealed that President and Chief Commercial Officer Marius Haas will be leaving Dell at the end of its fiscal year in February. Dell’s president of enterprise sales and customer operations, Bill Scannell, will be taking over Haas’ responsibilities.