Hard disk manufacturer Western Digital has appointed David Goeckeler to serve as its new CEO after its former chief Steve Milligan announced his intention to retire late last year.
Goeckeler will leave networking giant Cisco to join the firm as its new leader, having served as executive vice president and general manager for its networking and security business. This division has been valued at $34 billion.
One of his last actions with Cisco was overseeing the release of smart troubleshooting functionality for monitoring applications in January, at the firm's flagship Cisco Live event.
Western Digital’s former CEO announced he was retiring in October having been with the firm since 2002 and having occupied a leadership role since 2013. He also occupied senior roles with Hitachi from 2007, before rejoining Western Digital in 2012 when it acquired the company.
Joining the firm from Monday 9 March, Goeckeler said the entire industry is now at an exciting inflection point. This, he added, involves all organisations deploying infrastructure that’s software-driven, and powered by data and cloud computing, hinting at the possible direction he may take Western Digital in.
“This megatrend has only just now reached an initial stage of adoption and will drive a massive wave of new opportunity,” Goeckeler continued. “In this IT landscape, the explosive growth of connected devices will continue fueling an ever-increasing demand for access to data.
“With large-scale hard disk drive and semiconductor memory franchises, Western Digital is strongly positioned to capitalize on this emerging opportunity and push the boundaries of both software and physical hardware innovation within an extremely important layer of the technology stack.”
Western Digital’s board chairman, Matthew Massengill, added the new appointee boasted an exceptional track record of driving profit at scale while executing innovative business strategies to expand his division into new markets.
“With experience as a software engineer as well as running large semiconductor development projects,” he continued, “his breadth of technology expertise, business acumen and history of building and operating world-class organizations make him the right person to lead Western Digital in a world increasingly driven by applications and data.”
Milligan will continue to serve as an advisor to Western Digital until September this year, as originally planned.
-
Bigger salaries, more burnout: Is the CISO role in crisis?In-depth CISOs are more stressed than ever before – but why is this and what can be done?
-
Cheap cyber crime kits can be bought on the dark web for less than $25News Research from NordVPN shows phishing kits are now widely available on the dark web and via messaging apps like Telegram, and are often selling for less than $25.
-
Cisco wants to train 1.5 million Europeans in digital skillsNews Cisco has unveiled plans to provide free training to 1.5 million people across the EU as part of a major digital skills drive.
-
"Our goal is to transform partner success": Cisco just announced a major overhaul of its partner program – here’s what you need to knowNews The Cisco 360 Partner Program promises to accelerate the value partners bring to customers, reimagined to boost skills and innovation
-
Meta layoffs hit staff at WhatsApp, Instagram, and Reality Labs divisionsNews The 'year of efficiency' for Mark Zuckerberg continues as Meta layoffs affect staff in key business units
-
Cisco’s ‘savvy’ CoreWeave deal will supercharge its AI ambitionsAnalysis Experts told ITPro the move could be an attempt to strengthen Cisco’s AI footprint
-
Cisco layoffs cut deeper than expected as firm ramps up AI focusNews The move marks the second round of Cisco layoffs so far this year, with 7% of its global headcount expected to be cut
-
Cisco to cut thousands of roles in second batch of layoffs this yearNews The Cisco job cuts mark the second wave of layoffs for the tech giant so far in 2024
-
Cisco names new CEO for UK & IrelandNews The former BT director succeeds David Meads, who will now lead Cisco’s operations in the Middle East and Africa
-
Tech industry heavyweights push for more AI trainingThe AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium says employers will need to upskill their IT workforce to keep pace with AI adoption rates
