History (1998): Henri Richard VP Sales and Marketing, WW HDD Distribution, IBM Storage Systems Division

Henri Richard, a Frenchman, was recruited in January by IBM Storage Systems Division, San Jose, CA, as VP sales and marketing, WW HDD distribution, reporting to Dave Ernsberger, VP WW sales and marketing.

He was previously VP Europe at Conner Peripherals, and most recently executive VP in charge of suppliers at CHS/Karma.

Only 3 other French nationals have reached the upper echelons of Big Blue’s organization: Pierre Liautaud, VP marketing, Internet division; Alexandre Attal, VP marketing, distribution, and his wife Jocelyne Attal, VP WW sales of Netfinity servers.

Recall also that Jacques Maisonrouge was, until 1984, president of IBM World Trade, the ≠2 position in the company after CEO John Akers.

This article is an abstract of news published on issue 123 on April 1998 from the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter.

Note: He was then for 4 years EVP of NetApp’s WW field and customer operations and played an instrumental role in firm’s turnaround. He retired in 2020 but spended time advising IT and storage companies, among them Data Dynamics. He is currently VP executive partner at Gartner. He began his career in 1988 as director of marketing of French firm Métrologie. He likes building and flying large remote control airplanes and driving his cars while enjoying his several grandchildren. He is co-founder of Carvault RRS LLC, a storage and care service for exotic car owners in the Bay Area, offering secure long term storage for supercars in an easily accessible location with customized services.