DataCore Software, the storage hypervisor leader and premier provider of storage virtualization software, today named two well-recognized sales and operations executives with exemplary track records in the virtualization industry to spearhead the company’s business in Asia Pacific (APAC) and to develop sales in other rapidly emerging markets across the globe. The appointments facilitate DataCore’s continued worldwide growth, driven by high demand for its SANsymphony-V Storage Hypervisor and the pivotal role it plays in software-defined data centers and cloud solutions.

Former VMware Managing Director/GM of APAC and Japan Joins DataCore

Manish Sharma’s extensive domain expertise and intimate familiarity with the region will be instrumental in the role of general manager (GM) and VP for APAC. He adds more than two decades of continuous sales and management experience to DataCore’s established presence throughout the territory. Sharma was VP and GM for Appirio Inc., a technology-enabled services company, leading the organization to 85 percent year-over-year growth while helping enterprise customers adopt cloud solutions.

Prior to that, Sharma spent six years in executive management posts within VMware’s APAC and Japan (APJ) market. He was largely responsible for managing and building out the VMware virtualization partner network, overseeing enterprise product sales and integration, channel enablement and field operations. He started at VMware as GM of the APJ Partner Organization and progressed rapidly to become the Managing Director and GM of Emerging Products for all of APJ. Sharma is also very familiar with the countries within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), having served as managing director for BEA, as well as director of sales and business development in Australia and New Zealand. His earlier sales management tenure took him regularly to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and India. He will be strategically based in Singapore.

New Emerging Markets Position

Assuming DataCore’s newly created role of VP Emerging Markets is Peter Thompson. He will focus on driving the business expansion, key programs and partnerships needed within high-growth areas in APAC and the Americas regions, with a major emphasis on developing the Chinese marketplace. In addition, Thompson, who is based in Silicon Valley, will work with major industry partners, technology alliances and their global teams both locally and overseas to develop joint business opportunities and programs focused on emerging markets.

Thompson possesses more than two decades of expertise in APAC markets and was instrumental in developing DataCore’s storage virtualization business throughout the region, as well as its presence, partner network and offices in Japan, China and Australia. Formerly DataCore’s Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Thompson oversaw all sales, marketing and operations activities and was based in Japan for a number of years. He joined DataCore in 2000 to help develop the company’s APAC market strategy after a decade with Inabata & Co., a 200 year old trading company based in Osaka, where he led sales and new business efforts, mainly for the semiconductor industry.

“We see tremendous global demand for our solutions and are investing in an executive team with the proven experience to drive and significantly grow our market share in APAC and other emerging regions,” said Steve Houck, COO, DataCore Software. “Manish and Peter have proven records of success and they understand the challenges of growing virtualization companies in these markets. Furthermore, the IT industry is rife with businesses looking for cost-effective solutions to overcome the storage challenges related to virtualizing Tier 1 business-critical applications, transitioning to cloud computing, and taking on Big Data. Bottom-line, there’s growing demand for the powerful software-defined storage infrastructure that our SANsymphony-V Storage Hypervisor can provide.”

Priorities for the new leaders include channel expansion, partner enablement and closer alignment with the adjacent server and desktop virtualization ISVs and hardware suppliers (e.g., SSD/Flash) critical to modern datacenters. Their proven instincts for building rich relationships throughout APAC and the worldwide virtualization and storage community will immediately be put to use in enabling customers and partners to maximize the performance, availability and utilization of their IT environments.

VARs, system builders, managed service providers and cloud hosters operating in APAC and other emerging markets can learn how to extend their product and services portfolios with complementary storage virtualization solutions from DataCore by contacting sanvantage@datacore.com.