GlassHouse Exec Ends Dry Run

Storage service provider GlassHouse is losing its senior VP of worldwide sales after little more than a year on the job -- apparently, with the company's blessing.

According to GlassHouse VP of marketing and co-founder Richard Scannell, it was understood from the start that Dave Ellard, who joined GlassHouse in March 2005 after four years as SVP and CIO at EMC, was a temporary addition to the team.

Scannell and Ellard say everyone was following the advice of venture capital firms when Ellard was hired on last March. At the time, Ellard said he was scoping new opportunities. (See Former EMC CIO Joins GlassHouse.) Seems Ellard wants to head up a technology startup, but the VCs felt he needed some sales management experience before attempting that kind of gig in earnest.

"I have some career aspirations... to run a small company," says Ellard, 48. "I joined [GlassHouse] for the experience." He says VC pals told him he needed to get into a successful startup sales operation to see how it worked and to test his mettle.

One industry analyst, who asked not to be named, said this kind of situation is unusual but not unheard-of. "This is the exception, not the rule. Typically the people involved are friends or share the same VCs or are doing a favor for the VC. Favors can work in either direction." The exec in question could be doing a favor for the VC in working for a startup, the analyst says, or the startup could be doing one for their VC by hiring said exec.It's not clear who was involved in Ellard's hiring at GlassHouse. GlassHouse has relationships with a series of VCs, but partners from Sigma and Kodiak sit on its board. Ellard also has a relationship with VCs at Globespan and is acquainted with venture firms familiar with EMC, he says.

As to how the experiment went, Ellard's confident he's hit the goal after 15 months.

"We've had four record quarters at GlassHouse," he beams.

According to Scannell, there are no plans to replace Ellard right away. He himself will oversee the sales situation as needed. "We have a strong set of regional sales directors," he explains. Meanwhile, Ellard will continue to drop in, give briefings, and sit on GlassHouse's advisory board.

As to those outstanding quarters, Scannell isn't elaborating. "We don't disclose our financials but the business continues to grow very well." He claims management is quite satisfied with its new focus on partnerships, including ones with Computer Associates and HDS. "We are pleased with our progress and have continued plans to drive market return to investors within a reasonable time.""He's decided to move on, but he's still a great friend of the firm and a stockholder," Scannell says. Ellard also sits on GlassHouse's advisory board.

So what's next for Ellard? He claims he'll take the summer to figure out his next move. Despite his expertise in storage, he's not limiting his scope to startups in that space.

VCs at Kodiak and Sigma did not respond to requests for comment.

Mary Jander, Site Editor, Byte and Switch

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