VMware’s board of directors had a distinct choice between promoting a charismatic leader or a tenured technologist to succeed former CEO Pat Gelsinger. The VMware CEO short list likely came down to two men who both held chief operating officer roles: COO of Products and Cloud Services Rangarajan (Raghu) Raghuram, and COO for Customer Operations Sanjay Poonen.

Ultimately, the board chose Raghuram, the technologist, for the post. And Poonen, the outspoken executive who regularly played piano on stage during VMworld events, “made the personal decision” to leave VMware.

While Raghuram’s promotion to CEO came as a surprise to many, it makes sense that the tech giant tapped a leader with a strong engineering and product background, according to analysts.

“Certainly Raghuram has the technical chops to run VMware,” Zeus Kerravala, principal analyst at ZK Research, wrote in an email to SDxCentral. “He has been instrumental in transforming VMware into one that’s relevant to the growth of cloud. I think that was in question a while ago, but he has made VMware a company that’s core to cloud.”

Raghuram, who joined VMware in 2003, helped grow the company’s core virtualization business, and helped steer its technology evolution through VMware’s software defined data center strategy and into its cloud computing business and software-as-a-service efforts.

“Raghu Raghuram brings heavy-duty product and engineering skills to the table in addition to nearly 20 years’ experience at VMware,” Moor Insights and Strategy President Patrick Moorhead wrote in response to questions. “I am hoping he surrounds himself with customer and marketing types to balance out the equation. The company wants to be seen more as a cloud tech company, and one way to help do that is to put a technologist at the top.”

Moorhead expects to see rapid, strategic product and personnel decisions from Raghuram because of his tenure with the company. “I wouldn’t expect a listening tour as someone from the outside would require,” he said.

However, Moorhead, along with the other analysts interviewed for this article, was surprised that the VMware board tapped Raghuram instead of Poonen. “I thought Sanjay Poonen was the odds-on choice for the role, and I know many are surprised about that,” he said. “Poonen had a winning track record and was a cultural lighthouse for the company. That’s hard to find and I think will be sorely missed.”

Forrester VP and Research Director Glenn O’Donnell said he expected a “charismatic outsider to get the job,” but assumed that if VMware did hire from within, then the board would promote Poonen. “He has been a prominent, public face of VMware for a while,” O’Donnell wrote in response to questions.

“Raghu lacks the charisma, but he is a very smart man who knows VMware’s business and customers well,” he added.

O’Donnell said he can sum up what Raghuram’s ascension means for VMware in one word: “Continuity.”

“This is a less disruptive move for sure,” he added. “Raghu will keep VMware on the course Pat Gelsinger set forth — at least for the next few quarters.”

However, Kerravala said he expects to Raghuram will be a very different type of leader compared to Gelsinger based on a Fortune interview.

Raghuram told Fortune that he sees himself “more of a technology-centric leader,” compared to Gelsinger’s “industry statesman,” leadership style. Gelsinger, also a trained engineer, often spoke out on societal and political issues. Raghuram, on the other hand, told Fortune he has “no intention” to do this.

“I think that’s a mistake, particularly with VMware spinning out” from Dell Technologies, Kerravala said. “More and more, customers are looking for the tech companies, particularly the big brands to set the tone for societal change. Gelsinger was very active in this area, as is many of his peers such as [Cisco CEO] Chuck Robbins, [Salesforce CEO Marc] Benioff, [Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO] Antonio Neri, and [Dell Technologies CEO] Michael Dell. Not addressing these issues will be viewed as a negative by some customers.”

If Raghuram doesn’t take on this role, then someone else at VMware needs to fill this void, Kerravala said. “Tech vendors don't just sell tech,” he said. “They provide examples of how technologies can be used to change the world.”

And while analysts were surprised that VMware didn’t promote Poonen, they aren’t particularly worried about his future. “I knew Sanjay would bail immediately if he wasn’t the ‘chosen one,’” O’Donnell said. “Executive departures are normal business, especially in Silicon Valley. Sanjay will soon emerge as a CEO elsewhere.”

For his part, Poonen doesn’t sound too worried, either. “It’s been a great time @VMware the past 7 yrs; friendships created, all we’ve built together, employees touched, and customers/partners impacted,” he tweeted, along with a picture of an open road stretching into the distance. “Also excited about what I’m going to be doing next. More on my next adventure in the next few weeks and months, stay tuned…”