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Dell, which is undergoing a massive transformation as it evolves from a PC and server box maker to a full enterprise IT solutions provider, will have a new person overseeing the effort.
Dell executives, at the same time they unveiled disappointing second-quarter financial numbers, announced that Marius Haas, a former Hewlett-Packard executive, is the new president of the company’s Enterprise Solutions unit, replacing Brad Anderson, who had held the position for seven years.
Haas will oversee the engineering, design, development and marketing efforts behind Dell enterprises products, from servers to networking to storage.
“As we continue to drive our end-to-end solutions strategy, Marius’ impressive mix of business, operational and strategic expertise is a great fit,” CEO Michael Dell said in a statement. “We’re rapidly building on the strength of our leading portfolio of servers, storage and networking, and Marius will help accelerate that journey.”
Dell over the past few years has aggressively been buying companies as it looks to expand its data center infrastructure capabilities. The vendor has always had servers-the company earlier this year rolled out its 12th generation PowerEdge systems, powered by Intel’s latest “Romley” Xeon processors-and is rapidly bulking up its capabilities in storage, networking and enterprise software. The list of acquisitions includes Compellent Technologies, Force10 Networks, Wyse Technology and Quest Software.
Dell appears to be gaining some traction. According to the second-quarter financial numbers released Aug. 21, the company saw enterprise solutions revenue grow 6 percent, to $4.9 billion, while server sales climbed 8 percent, networking revenue 94 percent and sales of its own storage product increased 6 percent. Solutions and services sales increased for both the enterprise and small and midsize business (SMB) segments.
Anderson, who had been president of the unit since 2005, oversaw much of the transformation effort. According to a Dell statement, Anderson decided to leave the company to “seek new opportunities.” Michael Dell thanked Anderson for the “tremendous contributions [he] made to the business.”
Anderson said in a statement that he had done what he had set out to do.
“I’m leaving the business in a stronger position in servers, networking and storage, and with a solid foundation in key solution areas like converged infrastructure and cloud computing,” he said. “Now, I’m excited for the next challenge and look forward to seeing great things from Marius and the rest of the team.”
Haas came to Dell from private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Prior to that, he held positions with Dell rival HP, Compaq and Intel. With HP, he was senior vice president and worldwide general manager of HP’s Networking Division, and had also served as the company’s senior vice president of strategy and corporate development.
“I’m thrilled to join the Dell team,” Haas said in a statement. “Dell has a strong brand, great customer relationships, tremendous talent, exceptional technology and an incredible growth opportunity. I’m excited to help realize the vision and drive the strategy forward.”
Dell’s second-quarter earnings showed the importance of its reducing its dependence on PC sales, which currently account for about half the company’s revenue. While Dell showed gains in its enterprise businesses, overall consumer sales were down 22 percent from the same period last year and consumer notebook revenue fell 26 percent.
Overall revenue dropped 8 percent, to $14.4 billion, and net income came in at $732 million, an 18 percent decrease. Dell executives also cut its full-year forecast and slashed its revenue forecast for the third quarter, saying sales would fall 2 percent to 5 percent from the second quarter, to $13.8 billion to $14.2 billion.