"I am pleased to welcome Richard to VMware at a time when the company is poised to expand its technology leadership even farther ahead with its upcoming VMware vSphere generation of products," said Paul Maritz, president and chief executive officer, VMware. "As the new leader of our R&D organization, Richard brings deep experience in developing industry-leading software. He will play a crucial role in driving product engineering efforts that will help drive and grow our business."
"From the introduction of VMware Workstation in 1999 to giving customers a clear path to cloud computing, VMware has clearly established itself as an innovation leader," said McAniff. "I am excited to join the VMware team at an important time in the company's history. In my new role, I will be focused on continuing the development of the innovative technologies and quality products that customers have come to expect from VMware."
McAniff, 59, brings more than 28 years of software development leadership experience to VMware. Most recently, he spent 21 years at Microsoft. As corporate vice president for Microsoft Office, McAniff was responsible for several major software tools including Excel and Access. He also oversaw the Business Intelligence effort within Office and development of Web components for the SharePoint Portal Server. In addition, McAniff helped guide the development of Office 2000, Office XP, Office 2003 and Office 2007. Before serving as corporate vice president, McAniff served as general manager of the Visual Basic development system. Prior to joining to Microsoft in 1987, McAniff was a member of the technical staff at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. During his seven years there, he worked on numerous projects including probability analyses for alternative fuels.
McAniff holds a master's degree in systems and industrial engineering from the University of Arizona, a master's degree in resource economics from the University of Massachusetts, and a bachelor of science degree in economics from the University of Massachusetts.