In-Depth

Microsoft Execs: Who's Who?

It's been a year of change and turnover among partner-facing Microsoft executives. Here's an org chart for partners.

When it comes to Microsoft partner-facing executives, 2010 has been a remarkably tumultuous year.

In the Worldwide Partner Group, Allison Watson took a lateral transfer after nearly eight years in the role of the Microsoft global channel chief. One of the longest and most stable tenures in the channel came to an end, although Microsoft's move to have Watson and her replacement, Jon Roskill, trade positions with each inheriting the other's staff has lent some stability to what was universally received by partners as a surprising move. That attempt at stability was probably smart on the parts of more senior Microsoft executives, given the far more tumultuous changes affecting all Microsoft partners in the form of the new Microsoft Partner Network and Microsoft's "all-in" emphasis on steering partners toward new cloud-based business models.

There's been less stability over the years in the U.S. Partner Group, which has had four different executives in the last five years -- although coleadership positions have made the situation more stable than that number makes it sound. This year, Microsoft split the U.S. Partner Group into two different groups, with each of the leaders -- Cindy Bates and Jennifer Flinders -- heading up a different group within Phil Sorgen's U.S. Small and Mid-market Solutions & Partners.

The close of the year seems like a good time to take stock of who's who among partner-facing Microsoft executives. We haven't tried to point out who's who across the entire organization. (Those wall posters from Directions on Microsoft do a great job of that.) Instead, we've just focused on the most partner-centric groups with a lot of recent change, and we've included Phil Sorgen's group, in which both Bates' and Flinders' organizations are embedded, for context.

About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.

Featured

  • Nebula

    Ahead of AGI, Microsoft and OpenAI Redefine Their Partnership

    In a recapitalization announced Tuesday, OpenAI has launched a new public benefit corporation (PBC) called OpenAI Group, giving Microsoft a 27 percent ownership stake valued at approximately $135 billion.

  • Veeam Acquires Securiti AI To Unify Data Resilience and AI Security

    Veeam Software is making a strategic move into AI and data security by acquiring Securiti AI for $1.7 billion.

  • Microsoft Adds 'Mico' Virtual Assistant to Copilot in Major Fall Update

    In a significant feature update, Microsoft on Thursday said it is reshaping its Copilot AI platform with features that deepen user personalization and enable real-time group collaboration, among other perks.

  • Nutanix Partner Central Rolls Out To Boost Channel Engagement

    Nutanix on Wednesday launched a new platform, Partner Central, to give its channel partners a unified digital workspace for managing sales, tracking incentives and collaborating more effectively.

Most   Popular