Red Hat Adds VMware Exec to Promote Global Strategic Alliances

From the “If You Can’t Beat Them… files:

There is a bit of a revolving door in the tech industry, where people move from one industry competitor to another (unless of course they have non-compete agreements and even then..).

Linux vendor Red Hat today announced the appointment of former VMware exec Scott Musson as Red Hat’s new VP of Global Strategic Alliances. That’s a big job and a critical one for the present and future growth of Red Hat.

While Red Hat does have direct sales, the partnership channel has long been a key driver of growth and pull-through momentum. Musson will help direct Red Hat’s foundational parterships with IBM, HP, Dell and Cisco.

At VMware, Musson was the Senior Director of Global Strategic Alliances. And yeah, VMware is also partnered with IBM, HP, Dell and Cisco, so I suspect Musson will have an easy transition.

“I’m honored to join a passionate team that has built strong relationships with and continues to show commitment to their partners,” Scott Musson, vice president of Global Strategic Alliances, Red Hat said in a statement. “Red Hat’s leadership in key technology areas, including cloud, big data and application infrastructure and modernization, offers some exciting opportunities to make an impact.”

Musson isn’t the first exec that Red Hat has pulled from rival. In April of this year, Red Hat named former Microsoft exec Radhesh Balakrishnan as the new global leader for Red Hat’s virtualization infrastructure solutions.

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.