Bekker's Blog

Blog archive

Former Channel Chief Roskill, Microsoft Part Ways

Jon Roskill is out of Microsoft, his employer for nearly 20 years, less than a month after stepping down from the high-profile role of channel chief.

Microsoft replaced Roskill with Phil Sorgen as corporate vice president for the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group in a move announced Aug. 29. In a blog post announcing the change, Roskill had said he hoped to "return to my roots of product development and take all the great insights I gained from my time with our partners and use them to create even more partner opportunity." 

However, an e-mail from RCP to Roskill's Microsoft address on Friday returned a note that Roskill left Microsoft Sept. 20. He did not respond to an e-mail to the personal address in the automatic reply, although Microsoft executives at that level are usually bound by a legal agreement not to discuss the terms of their departures for a set period of time.

In a statement provided by e-mail, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed Roskill's departure: "Jon Roskill has left Microsoft, and we wish him well in his future endeavors."

Roskill's experience in Microsoft was a combination of operational work from his partner role and previously as corporate vice president/U.S. Business and Marketing Officer, and product/technical work. Previous roles on that side included a stint as a general manager in the Server & Developer Tools Division.

Roskill hasn't updated his LinkedIn profile yet.

According to a source familiar with the situation, Roskill's planned move to a technical role was blocked by a more senior executive. "In essence, the reason Jon left was corporate politics, nothing to do with corporate decision-making," the source said.

Posted by Scott Bekker on October 21, 2013 at 12:00 PM


Featured

  • Microsoft Planning Additional Job Cuts in May

    Microsoft's ongoing layoffs are hitting its home turf, with new notices affecting 1,248 people in the Redmond, Bellevue and Issaquah, Wash. areas in May.

  • Microsoft's Loop App Now Available in Preview

    Microsoft's latest collaboration application, Loop, is now available as a public preview.

  • 2023 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.

  • Microsoft To Add ISV Designations to MCPP

    Microsoft's top partner executives detailed several changes it plans to make to the 6-month-old Microsoft Cloud Partner Program (MCPP).