Doug Woolley, outgoing MD of Dell Technologies SA.
Doug Woolley has resigned as Dell Technologies South Africa GM, as he prepares to explore greener pastures.
The seasoned IT executive revealed in a LinkedIn status update that after a decade at Dell Technologies, the time has come for him to step away from what has “truly been a second family”.
“Resigning from Dell has been one of the most difficult decisions of my career. Three years ago, my family and I made the decision to relocate to the Cape for personal reasons. Since then, I’ve been commuting weekly to Johannesburg, and although I embraced the challenge, the constant travel eventually took its toll. After a lot of thought (and emotion), it became clear that it was time to put my family first,” he wrote.
Woolley, who also served as the company’s VP of sales for Southern Africa, will join another company – information which Dell Technologies SA says will be revealed in a statement next week.
He is a veteran in the industry, with more than 30 years of experience in IT services. He joined Dell in 2015 after four years at Business Connexion as group executive focused on the successful restructuring of the company’s technology division.
He took over from Stewart van Graan, who moved into a new expanded role as enterprise solutions general manager for Dell EMEA Emerging Markets at the time.
He was formerly chief executive of IT infrastructure distributor AxizWorkGroup, as well as MD of Workgroup, the first distributor of Microsoft products in South Africa.
“To my colleagues in CEEMETA, thank you for your partnership, mentorship and unwavering support − it had a profound impact on both my career and the success of the South African business.
“To my South African management team, both past and present − it was an honour to work with you and to see Dell South Africa grow into the number one infrastructure player in the market. To my broader South African Dell team − your passion, commitment and drive made every success possible,” he added.
One year after Woolley joined the company, Dell acquired the EMC Corporation. Dell’s $62 billion takeover of EMC made it the world’s largest privately-controlled technology company.
