Arik Hesseldahl

Recent Posts by Arik Hesseldahl

HP Enterprise Sales Veteran Frank Rauch Leaves. We Got Your Memo.

Frank Rauch, a key executive in Hewlett-Packard’s enterprise sales organization, is leaving the company for a position at VMware, according to an internal email sent to HP employees Friday, and forwarded to AllThingsD by a source.

Rauch had been vice president and general manager for the channel sales operation in the Americas, within the former Enterprise Server, Storage and Networking Group (ESSN). (Channel sales is the part of the sales operation that sells primarily through third parties.) He came to HP by way of its 2002 acquisition of Compaq Computer, which he joined way back in 1988, when it was still a start-up. He has been based in Philadelphia.

The ESSN business was recently rechristened the Enterprise Group after a reorganization announced in March by CEO Meg Whitman, and was placed under Executive Vice President Dave Donatelli, who immediately set about shaking up his team. Donatelli talked about what’s going on in the Enterprise Group in an interview with AllThingsD last month.

Upheaval in the executive ranks has been the name of the game at HP since Whitman starting wrestling with the details of what is probably the most daunting effort at a corporate turnaround in recent memory. The current centerpiece of the turnaround effort is the reduction of 27,000 jobs across HP, including about 5,000 voluntary retirements.

Initially, investors liked what they saw; however, HP shares have since traded at the lowest level they’ve seen in more than seven years.

Rauch announced his departure via Twitter on Friday. His new position will be VP of channel sales at VMware. His farewell email to HP colleagues is below:


Last day at HP today. My sincere thanks to all who have supported me over the last 24 years. A tremendous run with a tremendous company. S…
@FrankRauchHP
FrankRauchHP


From: Rauch, Frank
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2012 3:18 PM
Subject: Farewell

As many of you are already aware, Friday will be my last day at HP. Over the years I have read many farewell e-mails but never really thought about what mine might say. So, here it is:

It is hard to believe I walked out of IBM Headquarters to join a small startup called Compaq 24 years ago. I was hired as 1 of the first 6 reps calling on end-users. I have been extremely fortunate to enjoy a great career ranging from running the global Pharmaceutical team, North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast Areas , spending a year in strategy and planning and finishing my career by leading the ESSN Channel team for the last 5-1/2+ years. It still seems like yesterday. 24 years, over 12 as a VP, and I have never moved from Philadelphia.

Thank you for the leadership, guidance, work ethic and friendship you have given me over the years. It has been a tremendous run.

The time has come for me to move on and begin a new chapter. This decision was not made lightly by me or my family. HP is a great place to work with strong leadership and a bright future. I sincerely wish you all tremendous success. Please feel free to cascade this e-mail if I missed anyone.

I would welcome the opportunity to keep in touch with all of you. My personal e-mail is [deleted] or you can easily find me on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Thanks for helping me grow personally and professionally.

Carpe’ Diem

Frank Rauch

Latest Video

View all videos »

Search »

Nobody was excited about paying top dollar for a movie about WikiLeaks. A film about the origins of Pets.com would have done better.

— Gitesh Pandya of BoxOfficeGuru.com comments on the dreadful opening weekend box office numbers for “The Fifth Estate.”