Look who's running VMware now

Former Softie Paul Maritz has a new challenge on his hands: Competing head-to-head with his former employer in the virtualization space.

In February, Maritz -- who was a top manager at Microsoft up until his depature from the company in 2000 -- was named as the head of EMC's Cloud Infrastructure and Services Division. On July 8, Martiz took on a new role: He is now CEO of VMware, following the sudden departure of former CEO Diane Greene (following VMware's announcement that its revenue growth would fall short of projections).

Microsoft released to manufacturing its Hyper-V hypervisor technology in late June.

Any Microsoft history buffs remember Maritz? Do you think he'll be able to keep VMware ahead of his former employer in the virtualization market?