McData Sales Boss McExits

Alain Andreoli, the top sales executive at McData Corp. (Nasdaq: MCDTA), has resigned from the SAN switch company and will start a new gig next Monday -- but for now, he's keeping his mouth shut on what that is.

McData, in an 8-K filing yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), disclosed that Andreoli, executive VP of worldwide sales and service, will resign "to pursue another business opportunity" effective December 1, 2003. John Kelley, president and CEO, will oversee sales and service for McData until the company hires a replacement.

Andreoli, who by all accounts is leaving voluntarily, says he can't tell us yet where he's headed next. "It will be announced next week -- I cannot talk about it yet," he tells Byte and Switch.

A source close to McData, who requested anonymity, says Andreoli is leaving to join a "current McData partner" but could not provide any additional details.

McData recently disclosed that it had failed to settle on OEM terms with EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) -- its single biggest partner -- forcing McData to dramatically cut back its revenue forecast for the third quarter (see EMC Playing Hardball With McData?). However, observers say Andreoli wasn't directly involved in those negotiations.Essentially, says a Wall Street hedge fund analyst, "McData is looking for a hard-charging head of sales who's a tactician. [Andreoli] is more of a 'thinker.' "

Andreoli was with McData for less than a year, joining in December 2002 to take over for Mike Gustafson, who became senior VP of marketing in June of last year (see McData Picks Sales Chief). Before joining McData, Andreoli was president and COO of Verio Inc., the IP services company of NTT Communications Corp.

Prior to that, Andreoli spent five years at Storage Technology Corp. (StorageTek) (NYSE: STK) as VP of global services and international operations. He also spent 14 years with Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) in various executive roles.

Todd "Lame Duck" Spangler, US Editor, Byte and Switch