Cisco and EMC Appoint Michael D. Capellas to Lead VCE Coalition; Named CEO of Acadia Joint Venture

HOPKINTON, Mass., May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Cisco and EMC today announced industry veteran Michael D. Capellas has joined the team to lead all aspects of the Virtual Computing Environment (VCE) coalition and has also been appointed to the complementary role of CEO of Acadia, a Cisco-EMC joint venture with investment from Intel and VMware. The VCE coalition with Acadia is focused on accelerating the transformation of the data center, helping organizations reduce costs and more quickly and securely deploy new business applications through private cloud computing.

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Cloud computing brings together the best elements of information management, next-generation networks, high-performance computing and systems management to redefine how information technology is deployed.  Private cloud is an enterprise-strength model designed to give organizations flexibility and more control and security over their computing environments.  

The VCE coalition was formed to bring together industry-leading IT infrastructure from three companies and deliver it to customers as a single entity.  In his role as the VCE coalition leader, Capellas, 55, will drive broad customer and partner adoption of the coalition's business-ready IT solutions including Vblock packages.  In addition, Capellas will work to help ensure that customers benefit from the VCE coalition's value of full accountability and will also attract additional partners to the coalition.

Capellas will also lead Acadia's unique "build, operate and transfer" business model designed to enable a broad set of partners to accelerate customer build-outs of private cloud infrastructures.  He will report to Joe Tucci, EMC Chairman and CEO, and John Chambers, Cisco Chairman and CEO, and the Acadia Board.

Capellas has tremendous experience in executive and technology leadership roles.  Most recently, he was Chairman and CEO of First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing.  Under the leadership of Capellas, the company drove innovation through new product development, including a joint partnership with EMC to deliver secure, encrypted payment card data.  Prior to First Data, Capellas served as MCI's president and CEO and oversaw its  successful rebuilding and transformation from a long distance carrier to the leading Internet Protocol networks company.  Capellas was President of HP after merging Compaq with HP. At Compaq, he started out as CIO, then COO and later became Chairman and CEO.  Prior to Compaq, he spent 20 years in technology positions for Oracle, SAP and Schlumberger.  He currently serves as a senior advisor to Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts (KKR) and First Data.  Capellas serves on the board of directors of Cisco Systems, Inc. and the national board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Joe Tucci, Chairman and CEO, EMC, said, "We are very fortunate to have someone of Michael Capellas' stature lead VCE and take on the role of CEO for Acadia.  With more than three decades of experience, Michael has made a career out of leading and transforming large corporations.  Today, IT departments are undergoing their own transformation as they begin their journey to the private cloud to reduce their computing costs and have more flexibility in the way they deploy applications. I believe Michael is the perfect executive to build added confidence and trust in the power of Cisco, EMC and our partners to help them along the way."

John Chambers, Cisco Chairman and CEO, said, "Michael's appointment to lead the VCE coalition and his role as CEO of Acadia underscores our long-term commitment to deliver a seamless engagement model for customers and partners to access the advanced technologies, support and services they have come to expect from Cisco and EMC. As we work together with VMware and other key partners to help our customers realize the potential of the private cloud, we couldn't be more confident in the value of the VCE coalition with a leader of Michael's distinction at the helm."

Michael Capellas said, "There's never been a better time to be in the heart of the industry helping customers take advantage of the next great wave of information technology innovation, the private cloud. The experience I've gained working and leading amazing companies will allow me to foster this truly unique opportunity.  With unmatched talent, financial resources and industry-leading technologies from three visionary companies, we can change the face of IT.   I'm extremely excited and fortunate to lead the VCE coalition and work with many of the best minds in the industry."

The appointment of Capellas by Cisco and EMC comes at a time when the VCE coalition is seeing strong market acceptance for Vblock, its pre-integrated, pre-tested technology packages for fully-virtualized data centers. VCE has already secured 45 partners and six system integrators that are currently selling Vblocks, and some 200 additional partners are in the certification phase.  The total market for private cloud infrastructure, including the elements that can be addressed by the VCE coalition, is estimated to be $85B by 2015.

About Acadia

Acadia helps enterprises more quickly and easily virtualize their data centers, and evolve to private cloud infrastructures, while minimizing cost and complexity.   A joint venture of Cisco and EMC, with investments from VMware and Intel, Acadia leverages integrated technologies and innovations from its three parent companies to simplify the journey.  Acadia also provides the field-expertise and operational know-how to reduce risk and improve time to value.  More information about Acadia can be found at www.acadia.com.

About Cisco

Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information on Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

About EMC

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the world's leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information. Information about EMC's products and services can be found at www.EMC.com.

Vblock is a trademark of EMC Corporation in the United States. All other trademarks used are the property of their respective owners.

This release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined under the Federal Securities Laws.  Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (iii) EMC and Cisco's ability to protect our respective proprietary technology; (iv) risks associated with managing the growth of EMC and Cisco's respective businesses; (v) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures and new product introductions; (vi) the relative and varying rates of product price and component cost declines and the volume and mixture of product and services revenues; (vii) component and product quality and availability; (viii) the transition to new products, the uncertainty of customer acceptance of new product offerings and rapid technological and market change; (ix) insufficient, excess or obsolete inventory; (x) war or acts of terrorism; (xi) the ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees; (xii) fluctuating currency exchange rates; and (xiii) other one-time events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in EMC's and Cisco's respective filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  EMC and Cisco disclaim any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.

SOURCE EMC Corporation