EMC Channel Chief Exits Company

EMC would not provide additional details around Thyregod's departure, but one EMC spokesperson said in an email to CRN that "EMC's channel operations, sales and marketing remain in full swing." The spokesperson also said that EMC has "a replacement in the works."

Thyregod, EMC's vice president of global channel marketing and global distribution, was a driving force behind EMC's Velocity Partner Program, which the company established in 2003 and boasts just shy of 2,000 partners.

Thyregod took the reins of EMC's channel program earlier this year when the company reshuffled part of its executive team and moved long-time channel lead Pete Koliopoulos to spearhead channels for EMC in its Vblock coalition, which includes VMware and Cisco. Koliopoulos previously served as EMC's vice president of global channel marketing and was replaced by Thyregod in February.

Thyregod previously was the company's distribution director for EMEA from October 2007 to August 2009. Before joining EMC he held positions at IBM and Four Leaf Technologies.

Thyregod's departure comes as EMC brings in new blood and adjusts its executive ranks as it seeks to ensure a smooth leadership path for the storage company's future.

In March, EMC brought on former Symantec and Oracle executive Jeremy Burton as the company's first-ever chief marketing officer (CMO). Burton's joining followed EMC's hiring of former Intel executive Pat Gelsinger in September. Gelsinger joined EMC as s president and COO for EMC information infrastructure products.

At the time of Gelsinger's executive appointment, EMC also promoted Howard Elias to president and COO for information infrastructure and cloud services.