News
Former Cisco VP To Head Microsoft's Worldwide Public Sector Group
- By Gladys Rama
- February 13, 2012
Microsoft has named a new corporate vice president of its Worldwide Public Sector division: Laura Ipsen, formerly a senior vice president at Cisco Systems Inc.
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| Laura Ipsen (Source: Microsoft) |
As head of the Worldwide Public Sector division, Ipsen will manage a team of nearly 2,000 marketers and salespeople whose aim is to provide Microsoft solutions to public-sector organizations, including those in the government, health care and education sectors. Microsoft has public-sector customers in more than 100 countries, the company said in its announcement last week.
Ipsen's appointment fills the position that was vacated by Linda Zecher, who left Microsoft in September 2011 to become president and CEO of publishing giant Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Zecher led the Worldwide Public Sector division for two years until her exit from the company.
Zecher's departure came shortly after the resignation of another high-level Microsoft executive: Simon Witts, then the corporate vice president of Microsoft's Worldwide Enterprise and Partner Group, left the company in August 2011 for undisclosed reasons. While Microsoft searched for Witts' permanent replacement, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner temporarily assigned his duties to Zecher and Susan Hauser, then vice president of Worldwide Industry and Global Accounts. However, Zecher's departure from Microsoft was announced just a week after Witts', leaving Hauser in the interim role.
Last month, Hauser was officially named corporate vice president of Microsoft's Worldwide Enterprise and Partner Group. Ipsen will report directly to Hauser, according to Microsoft.
According to her executive bio, before joining Microsoft, Ipsen served as senior vice president and general manager of Cisco's Connected Energy Networks division, where she "led the effort to use the network as the platform to transform how the world manages its energy and environmental challenges." She also spent 13 years within Cisco's Global Policy and Government Affairs division.