Gartner analyst back-tracks on Rubrik move and joins Veeam instead

Dave Russell's Rubrik move was announced last week but retracted this morning, before move to Veeam was confirmed

Gartner analyst Dave Russell has joined Veeam as vice president of enterprise strategy, three days after Rubrik announced that he would be joining them in a similar capacity.

Rubrik said on Friday that Russell had been recruited as vice president and chief strategist, along with Gartner colleague Pushan Rinnen who would become director of product marketing.

However, a Rubrik release sent out today revealed that Russell had instead opted to "pursue another opportunity in the industry".

Russell's move to Veeam was then confirmed in a release this afternoon, with the former analyst tasked with "accelerating the company's growth in the enterprise".

Speaking on Russell's arrival, Veeam co-CEO Peter McKay said: "Dave's résumé speaks for itself. He is one of the most prominent figures in the industry and to have him join Veeam at such an exciting time in our growth is a testament to the company's momentum in the market.

"Over the past year we have grown at an exponential rate and are doubling down on our success in the Fortune 500 segment of the market, where enterprise customers have recognised our platform as world class for their infrastructures.

"Dave's experience and skill set will help accelerate our growth and enterprise momentum and I am delighted to have him on our team."

Russell has 28 years of experience in the IT industry and was most recently vice present at Gartner, focusing specifically on storage and backup strategies.

Prior to this he spent 15 years working in IBM's storage division.

Russell said: "This is a great opportunity to apply my 28 years of thought leadership experience in an industry that is evolving rapidly as enterprises manage the challenges of data hyper-criticality, hyper-growth and hyper-sprawl.

"Customers are struggling to effectively manage and protect exponential data volumes and I am looking forward to advising them on a smooth journey towards intelligent data management, allowing them to accelerate innovation and bring new digital services to market faster."

Meanwhile, in her role at Rubrik, Rinnen will advise the vendor on its strategy and marketing activities.

"I've been analysing the players in this industry for years and find Rubrik's approach to building both its product and its culture inspirational," she said.

"Bipul's [Sinha, Rubrik CEO] vision and his personal commitment to fostering a strong, transparent culture is unique, and the speed and degree to which Rubrik has disrupted this market is unprecedented.

"I'm excited to work with the team to scale its go-to-market strategy as the company continues to evolve and deepen its market-leading capabilities."