Paul Maritz is stepping down as CEO of VMware to take the job of chief strategist at parent company EMC.
The chief executive's role will be filled by Pat Gelsinger, currently chief operating officer (COO) at EMC.
Paul Maritz (pictured) joined EMC in 2008 when it acquired the company he founded, Pi Corporation.
Maritz started off heading EMC's cloud computing division, but less than six months later was appointed CEO of VMware, replacing its co-founder Diane Greene.
Despite his move back to EMC, Maritz will remain on the board of directors for VMware – but will report to EMC’s CEO, Joe Tucci – when he switches roles on 1 September.
EMC COO Pat Gelsinger will also join the VMware board.
EMC’s CFO, David Goulden, was named COO to fill the space left by Gelsinger.
“Today we are witnessing an extraordinary transformation in the IT industry unlike anything we have seen before,” said Tucci.
“A major shift to cloud computing, big data applications and delivering IT as a service.
“To capitalise on this tremendous opportunity, we are positioning our executive talent so that we can benefit from their exceptional professional strengths with the goal of further advantaging EMC and VMware to deliver long-term value to our respective shareholders.”
The shuffle of executives was announced on the same day as EMC revealed preliminary results for its second quarter, which showed consolidated revenues of $5.31bn, up 10% from the same quarter last year.
EMC also claimed it was still on track for full year revenues of $22bn for 2012.
The full breakdown of EMC’s results will be announced during its earnings call on 24 July.