Dell Appoints Former Auto Executive New Global CIO

That executive, Adriana "Andi" Karaboutis, will be responsible for Dell's organization and information infrastructure developments, according to the company.

Karaboutis in 2010 joined Dell as vice president of IT, and has since been a big part of transforming Dell from a reseller to an enterprise systems company. During that time, she led efforts to build a global manufacturing operation, consolidate product lines, and simplify supply chains. She was also a key part of helping companies acquired by Dell transition quickly to be a part of that company's overall operations.

Before joining Dell, Karaboutis spent a total of 21 years at General Motors and Ford Motor Company. During that time, she oversaw GM's move to outsource manufacturing and supply chain IT to third-party integrators and pushed the company away from legacy IT systems to service-oriented architectures. She also helped Ford increase the efficiency of its manufacturing.

Karaboutis is reporting to Dell CFO Brian Gladden.

Gladden, in a written statement, said Karaboutis did much to help turn Dell into a comprehensive supplier of enterprise solutions and services. “I know as our CIO she will play a critical role as we build on our successes to help Dell and our customers maximize IT productivity through our own powerful and flexible solutions," he said in that statement.

Dell's prior global CIO, Robin Johnson, who held the position since 2008, left the company to pursue other opportunities, Dell said.

Dell was unable to provide details about the departure of Johnson by press time. However, his departure appears to have been very recent. He is still listed as Dell's global CIO on the social networking site LinkedIn, and multiple media outlets cite him as holding that position as late as last month.