Frank Slootman, the former chief executive of Data Domain, is joining venture firm Greylock partners. It is a somewhat incestuous move, since Greylock backed Data Domain, which was purchased by EMC for $2.4 billion in 2009.

Fifteen-year EMC staffer William “BJ” Jenkins replaces Slootman heading up the BRS team. EMC says that Slootman will stay on as an advisor for next generation backup and recovery products.

Frank Slootman will join Greylock as a partner. In his new role, Slootman will invest in data center infrastructure start-ups, particularly in the virtualization, networking, storage, cloud and enterprise application sectors. He will also coach and mentor up-and-coming entrepreneurs and executives.

Data Domain was a big success, and the investors which included Greylock and NEA made a big return. We had the Data Domain guys inside theCube at EMC World and they had nothing but good things to say about EMC.

My Angle: This isn’t a firing at EMC, but a graceful exit for someone who is interested in technology innovation and entrepreneurship. EMC is heads down focused on execution and new products.

Slootman moving to a venture role is a perfect position for Slootman, Greylock and other entrepreneurs. Storage, data, and converged infrastructure is the sexiest area right now and Slootman brings a lot to the table.

Here are some choice quotes from Greylock’s press release

Aneel Bhusri, a partner at Greylock. Bhusri was one of the early stage investors in Data Domain and its chairman at the time of its acquisition by EMC Corporation. Bhusri is also co-founder and co-chief executive at Workday and currently leads Greylock’s investments in Cloudera, Data Robotics, Proferi and Pure Storage. “Frank’s experience and perspective will be a tremendous asset to Greylock and he will be a valued partner to entrepreneurs who are building the next generation of enterprise technology companies.”

“Joining Greylock will enable me to get involved with many more aspiring and innovative companies. The world is buzzing with new ideas and innovation, and this is a great time to seek out, invest in and help bring about the next wave of exciting companies,” says Slootman.

Slootman brings with him 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and executive in the enterprise software industry. He most recently served as president of EMC’s Backup Recovery Systems (BRS) Division. At Greylock Frank will remain in a formal advisory capacity to EMC and to the company’s BRS Division. Prior to EMC, Frank served as chief executive of Data Domain, a venture-backed storage company that was acquired by EMC. Data Domain was founded in 2001 and grew at record pace. The company listed its shares on Nasdaq in 2007 and was acquired by EMC in 2009 for $2.4 billion.

Prior to Data Domain, Slootman served as a products executive at Borland Software and Compuware Corporation. He started his career at Burroughs Corporation in Detroit, Michigan.

Slootman earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Netherlands School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam in his native Holland.