HDS confirms hire of Dell channel boss

Paul Harrison to join Dell rival HDS in role of UK new business regional sales director

Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) has confirmed rumours that departing Dell channel boss Paul Harrison (pictured) is to join its ranks next month.

As first revealed yesterday by ChannelWeb, Dell emailed partners to break the news that Harrison is moving on to pastures new after two and and a half years in the role of UK channel lead.

Channel chit-chat immediately linked Harrison to rival HDS and the vendor has now confirmed he will start as UK new business regional sales director in October.

In this newly created role, Harrison will be responsible for developing new business opportunities, with a focus on large enterprise, corporate and commercial customers, HDS said.

Stephen Ball, regional vice president of HDS UK – who only joined the vendor himself in June – said: "This is a highly strategic hire as the creation of a new senior role demonstrates our commitment to our ambitious UK growth strategy, during an exciting time for the storage networking industry.

"We have already established a very strong management team at HDS and Paul's wealth of knowledge of the partner community and the technology industry, together with his exemplary track record, will be a fantastic addition."