News

Guggenheimer To Helm Microsoft's Developer and Platform Evangelism Team

• By Gladys Rama
• October 04, 2012

Microsoft this week named Steven Guggenheimer the corporate vice president of its Developer and Platform Evangelism (DPE) division.

Guggenheimer most recently headed Microsoft's Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) division before stepping down from that position this summer. He was replaced by Nick Parker, previously the vice president of OEM sales and marketing at Microsoft. At the time, Microsoft said Guggenheimer would be placed in a different role within the company, but did not elaborate.

Bloomberg on Wednesday said it had obtained an internal memo written by S. Soma Somasegar, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Developer division, announcing that Guggenheimer will replace Walid Abu-Hadba as the head of DPE.

"Abu-Hadba, a 21-year Microsoft veteran, will stay for several months to assist the transition after the release of the software maker's flagship operating system, Windows 8, later this month," according to Bloomberg's report. Windows 8 is slated to become generally available on Oct. 26.

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the executive changes. "Walid Abu-Hadba has decided to pursue the next chapter in his career and will be leaving Microsoft in a few months," the spokesperson said in an e-mail, adding that Guggenheimer's new role will be effective immediately.

"[Guggenheimer] brings a breadth of experience from his 18+ years at Microsoft, most recently in the OEM Division working with hardware partners," the spokesperson said. "The developer opportunity on Windows has never been greater and we remain focused on driving excitement and engagement with our community of developer partners."