Bekker's Blog by Scott Bekker, Editor in Chief

Blog archive

Microsoft's Feisty COO

Microsoft COO Kevin Turner is a critical executive to partners. Recently, Allison Watson's Worldwide Partner Group moved into his chain of command, following a similar shift for Simon Witts' Enterprise and Partner Group earlier in the year. Turner delivered the closing keynote at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference: Velocity 2006, giving a lot of partners their first glimpse of the former Wal-Mart executive.

This guy is feisty. A few quotes from his keynote give you a sense of his style:

"The fact of the matter is, there's not very many 501(c) nonprofit organizations in here, and certainly we aren't one of those."

"You want to make money. I heard that loud and clear from our partners."

"We are not going to let Google win in the enterprise search business. That's our space, that's our house. And those people are not going to be allowed to take food off of our plate, which is what they're attempting to get."

Posted by Scott Bekker on July 17, 2006


Featured

  • An image of planes flying around a globe

    2025 Microsoft Conference Calendar: For Partners, IT Pros and Developers

    Here's your guide to all the IT training sessions, partner meet-ups and annual Microsoft conferences you won't want to miss.

  • Google To Acquire Cloud Startup Wiz for $32 Billion

    Google has announced a pending agreement to acquire Wiz Inc., a cloud security platform, in an all-cash deal worth $32 billion.

  • FTC Expands Microsoft Antitrust Investigation Under Trump Administration

    The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is pressing ahead with a broad investigation into Microsoft's business practices, an inquiry that began in the final weeks of the Biden administration.

  • Microsoft to Shut Down Skype Services

    Microsoft will discontinue its Skype telecommunications and video calling services on May 5, 2025, marking the end of the platform's decades-long run.

Most   Popular