Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has quickly found a replacement for Douglas Merrill, the company’s departing CIO, reports News.com. Benjamin Fried, a former managing director of Morgan Stanley’s Application Infrastructure group, will assume the post in May. A Google spokesman confirmed the report. Merill announced last month that he would leave for a new post, created just for him, at record label EMI.

According to the report, Fried actually has experience with Google, having worked with the company on its 2004 IPO. A profile for Fried, which can be found here, suggests he’ll fit right in at the company. He’s done work alongside research labs CERN and NCSA, as well as NASA.

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