NetApp Hires Microsoft Vet as Chief Product Officer
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The data storage company NetApp is welcoming a C-suite executive to its team.
NetApp hired Harvinder “Harv” Bhela for the newly created role of chief product officer, according to the company last month.
He is set to join NetApp in January and report to CEO George Kurian.
Bhela is charged with accelerating the “ongoing transformation” of the company into a multicloud, storage, and data services company.
Bhela joins NetApp after nearly 25 years at Microsoft, where he held multiple executive leadership positions.
Most recently, he served as corporate VP of the Microsoft 365 Security, Compliance and Management business, which he helped grow to more than $10 billion in annual revenue, according to NetApp.
Previously, Bhela built the company’s Exchange business, turning Office 365 into o world’s largest productivity cloud, and was instrumental in the successful launch of Windows 10.
He holds a bachelor of engineering from the University of Mumbai and a master’s in computer science from the University of Minnesota.
“Product leadership and breakthrough innovation are the foundation of NetApp’s business strategy and success,” Kurian said.
“Looking ahead, we have the opportunity to accelerate the expansion of our cloud storage and data services business, while continuing a focused approach to scaling our CloudOps business.”
Kurian added that Bhela has experience building software categories and cloud services that are “used by billions of users every day.”
“I am thrilled to join NetApp at such a transformative time in the company’s history, and I look forward to working with the team on accelerating the growth of the company,” Bhela said.
He said the next generation of companies are “data-driven, digital businesses.”
Bhela added that NetApp is “well positioned” to deliver differentiated solutions that allow companies to “unlock enormous business value in this age of data.”
“I was fortunate to play a key role in the unprecedented transformation of Microsoft, and I believe NetApp is poised to undergo a similarly successful transition beyond what the market has already seen,” he said.