scott-tony
Tony Scott

VMware has hired a former Microsoft exec as it looks to battle both Microsoft, Amazon.com and others in the virtualization and cloud computing arenas.

The company today announced that it has hired Tony Scott as senior vice president and chief information officer. Scott had previously held the CIO roles at both Microsoft and Walt Disney.

Scott worked at Microsoft for five years before moving on in June, at the time saying that he was taking care of some personal matters and getting his pilot certification before moving on to his next gig.

Now, it appears that he has found that role at VMware, the offshoot of EMC which now boasts a market value of $37 billion.

The hiring of Scott comes amid Microsoft’s own leadership transition, highlighted by CEO Steve Ballmer’s surprise announcement last week that he plans step down in the next 12 months.

Former VMware CEO Paul Maritz (who left the post last fall) has been discussed as a potential replacement for Ballmer. He worked at Microsoft from 1986 to 2000, overseeing the Platforms Strategy and Developer Group.

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