Former VMware Channel Chief Ross Brown Joins Oracle

Brown has filled the position of vice president responsible for Oracle’s go-to-market operations. Oracle declined to further elaborate on his role, and whether it will directly involve Oracle Cloud’s channel.

Ross Brown, who once led VMware's channel organization, has taken an executive position in Oracle's cloud division.

While Oracle declined to comment on the new hire, Brown's LinkedIn page says he assumed the job of vice president for Oracle Cloud's go-to-market apparatus, working out of Seattle, where Oracle has expanded offices for a group focused on its cloud infrastructure business.

Brown left the virtualization giant in February of 2018, six months after VMware shuffled its executive deck and positioned him in a role focused on cloud, the Internet of Things and other emerging technologies.

[Related: Report: Oracle Cloud Sales Leader Dave Donatelli Preparing Exit]

Brown had landed at VMware in August 2015 to fill the channel chief position. He previously spent four years, starting in 2008, at Microsoft in channel leadership, and he also has held a senior channel position at Citrix Systems.

Brown took a sabbatical of almost two years between his time at VMware and Oracle.

Oracle's hire of the former VMware channel chief comes a year after Oracle's North American channel chief of more than three years, Bill Swales, left the company for a role developing channel strategy for VMware.