HPE Taps Microsoft Cloud Vet to Run GreenLake Unit
Keith White heads up tech giant’s key as-a-service hybrid IT strategy
Hewlett Packard Enterprise has named a cloud executive from Microsoft to run its new GreenLake business unit that will be key in pushing forward on the tech vendor’s hybrid cloud and as-a-service initiatives.
The Lowdown: HPE this week announced that Keith White, a 16-year veteran of Microsoft – about half of that time spent working on the software giant’s cloud efforts – is the new senior vice president and general manager of GreenLake. He will report to Phil Davis, president of hybrid IT at HPE.
The Details: White will run a business that since launching in 2018 has become central to HPE’s growth plans, including its strategy to offer its entire portfolio as a service by 2022. The platform essentially is designed to enable enterprises to operate their IT environments in more of a cloud-like fashion, including consuming technology as a service and paying for it via a consumption-based model. The company has rapidly extended the reach and capabilities of GreenLake, extending it to midmarket and smaller businesses, as well as to the public cloud and edge.
The company in November also expanded the channel partner program around GreenLake, with more support and tools designed to drive adoption. Most recently, HPE earlier this month unveiled GreenLake Central, a software platform that offers organizations a single console through which they can manage and optimize their entire hybrid IT environment. It’s now in beta and will be generally available in the second half of 2020.
The Impact: All the work is paying off, according to HPE officials. More than 740 customers have signed on to GreenLake since its launch, including 160 new customers this year. In addition, the channel has seen more than 200% growth in orders in 2019. It comes at a good time based on a recent HPE survey of decision-makers, which found that 87% of respondents said their organizations have begun implementing as-a-service solutions but that 71% worry about keeping pace in the fast-changing as-a-service space.
Background: White joined Microsoft in 2003, becoming a general manager in the cloud business in 2011. Since 2017, he had been vice president of Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud global commercial business, which included responsibility for sales, partner, and go-to-market initiatives in the areas of applications and infrastructure, as well as data and artificial intelligence (AI).
The Buzz: “Keith comes to HPE with more than 20 years at Microsoft, where he played a central role in developing their end-to-end, go-to-market, and cloud business strategy,” Davis said. “In his most recent role as head of their Intelligent Cloud, Worldwide Commercial Business, Keith played a key role in driving the significant growth of Azure over seven consecutive years. Keith also brings extensive experience in worldwide field sales and marketing, partner ecosystem development, and business strategy leadership – all of which will be key elements of his role here at HPE. … As we transform to become the premier edge-to-cloud platform as-a-service company, Keith’s role is fundamental to ensuring HPE continues to deliver a seamless cloud experience for our customers’ and partners’ workloads, at the edge, across all of their clouds, and in the data center.”
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