HPE Server/Software Defined Superstar Ric Lewis Is Retiring

Partners credited Lewis- an HP/HPE icon – with helping drive a wide range of enterprise server advances over three decades from rack systems to converged infrastructure to HPE’s breakthrough Synergy composable architecture.

Ric Lewis, a 32-year Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) veteran who has overseen a plethora of enterprise server breakthroughs, is retiring, HPE told CRN.

Partners credited Lewis- an HP/HPE icon – with helping drive a wide range of enterprise server advances over three decades from rack systems to converged infrastructure to HPE’s breakthrough Synergy composable architecture- the fastest growing value systems offering in HPE’s history.

Lewis most recently was senior vice president and general manager of HPE’s Hybrid IT software defined/cloud group overseeing the software defined strategy and road map for the Hybrid IT business. Lewis officially steps down on Oct. 31, the end of HPE’s fiscal year.

[Related: VMware’s Former Storage R&D Boss Is HPE’s New Hybrid IT CTO]

With Lewis stepping aside, HPE President Phil Davis has named Kumar Sreekanti, who was previously co-founder and CEO of artificial intelligence big data pioneer BlueData, which HPE acquired last November, as the new CTO for the HPE Enterprise Hybrid IT Business unit.

HPE partners credited Lewis –who holds a masters degree in electrical engineering from Stanford and a masters in business administration from Santa Clara University – with ensuring that HPE continually pushed the technology envelope in the fast moving server market.

“You’ve got to give Ric credit for overseeing many changes over the course of his 30 year plus career,” said the CEO for a top HPE partner, who did not want to be identified. “He has had a big impact on the industry from server advances in the eighties like converged infrastructure to the software defined hybrid cloud IT infrastructure market today. Ric was key in keeping HPE at the top of the enterprise server pyramid.”

Lewis started his career in HPE in 1987 and spent his early years leading design teams in system, chipset, CPU and firmware development for a wide range of products from servers to high end workstations, according to an HP biography. His long tenure included roles such as vice president and general manager for HPE’s enterprise server business, as well as senior vice president and general manager for Converged Data Center Infrastructure.

Most recently, Lewis helped chart the software-defined strategy that included the introduction in 2016 of HPE’s breakthrough Synergy composable infrastructure which is now a $1 billion run rate business with HPE partners accounting for two thirds of that revenue.

Lewis also helped lay the foundation of HPE’s OneView composable infrastructure management platform as the central nervous system of HPE’s composability ecosystem. More than 60 companies have already provided tight integration with OneView including top DevOps software providers VMware, Microsoft, Red Hat, Docker and Puppet.

Raymond Tuchman, CEO of Experis Technology Group, one of HPE's top Platinum partners, said he wished Lewis well on his retirement and hopes Sreekanti continues the “progress” in HPE hardware/software defined that came under Lewis’ leadership. “I hope Kumar drives even stronger services and support for HPE partners,” said Tuchman.