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Microsoft Names New U.S. Channel Chief

After a three-month search, Microsoft this week named Oracle veteran Stephen Boyle to run the U.S. channel for Microsoft, replacing Jenni Flinders.

Boyle's formal title is vice president of U.S. Partner Strategy and Programs. He reports to David Willis, corporate vice president of Microsoft U.S. Small and Midmarket Solutions & Partners (SMS&P), who announced the appointment in a blog post Tuesday.

"This announcement is the culmination of an exhaustive search for the right leader, and I know Stephen will play a key role in leading across Microsoft U.S. to transform how we scale our business together with partners. Stephen's role is a critical one for the organization and the company, as he will serve as our U.S. 'Channel Chief,' supporting our vast U.S. partner ecosystem," Willis said.

Boyle has been at Microsoft for just over a year, most recently reporting to Susan Hauser as a vice president in the Enterprise Partner Group. Before coming to Microsoft, he was group vice president for ISV and OEM sales at Oracle, one of a number of senior leadership roles he held at Oracle since 2005, according to his LinkedIn profile. Boyle also lists Sun Microsystems and Data General among the places he's worked in a 25-year tech career.

In a statement for Willis' blog post, Boyle kept his comments to Microsoft's current big themes: "I'm very excited to join U.S. SMS&P as the new U.S. Channel Chief. I'm looking forward to working closely with many of you and accelerating partner transformation in this mobile-first, cloud-first world. I believe we must enable and engage with all of our partners to help you build compelling industry and business solutions for our joint customers. The cloud creates new opportunities for all of us."

Flinders left Microsoft in April after more than 14 years with the company, much of it in high-profile partner-facing roles in the U.S. Partner Group and the Worldwide Partner Group. She ran the U.S. partner channel from 2009 onward.

Posted by Scott Bekker on July 16, 2015


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