Bekker's Blog

Blog archive

Schuster Taking on Major Role in Microsoft Partner Program

Gavriella Schuster, an 18-year Microsoft veteran, will join the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group (WPG) on June 1 in a new position that combines the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) role of Julie Bennani and the partner marketing duties of Karl Noakes, a company spokesperson confirmed Friday.

Phil Sorgen, corporate vice president for the WPG, selected Schuster for the new role in May. Bennani and Noakes continue to report to Sorgen in unspecified roles, including ensuring a smooth transition of their former responsibilities to Schuster, the spokesperson said. The move is designed to gain efficiencies by bringing the MPN and partner marketing teams together, he said.

Schuster's LinkedIn profile describes her as general manager of Worldwide Partner Programs, a new title in the WPG. Her profile describes the role as "Global management of Microsoft's partner recruitment, enablement, marketing and engagement. Responsibilities include Microsoft Partner Network Programs, WPC, Marketing and recruitment programs for ISVs, IP Partners, SIs, and Reselling partners of all types across all Commercial products and customers."

According to her LinkedIn profile, Schuster has been a general manager at Microsoft since 2006 in both the U.S. Server and Tools Business and in the Windows Product Management Group. Her career at Microsoft started in 1995 and has spanned licensing, enterprise services and training. Previous employers included Adobe Systems and Aldus Corp.

Bennani joined Microsoft in 2007 from Accenture, where Microsoft had been one of her major client responsibilities. She started as general manager of the Microsoft Partner Program and was a major architect of the overhaul that resulted in the MPN. Bennani was hired by WPG Corporate Vice President Allison Watson and kept the role through Jon Roskill's tenure as channel chief.

Noakes joined Microsoft in 2006 and held various partner-focused roles in the United Kingdom and at the headquarters in Redmond, Wash., since 2003. Watson promoted him to her be one of her direct reports in July 2009.

Posted by Scott Bekker on May 23, 2014


Featured

  • Microsoft Appoints Althoff as New CEO for Commercial Business

    Microsoft CEO and chairman Satya Nadella on Wednesday announced the promotion of Judson Althoff to CEO of the company's commercial business, presenting the move as a response to the dramatic industrywide shifts caused by AI.

  • Broadcom Revamps VMware Partner Program Again

    Broadcom recently announced a significant update regarding its VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) program, coinciding with the release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0, a key component in Broadcom’s private cloud strategy.

  • Closeup of the new Copilot keyboard key

    Microsoft Updates Copilot To Add Context-Sensitive Agents to Teams, SharePoint

    Microsoft has rolled out a new public preview for collaborative "always on" agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot, bringing enhanced, context-aware tools into Teams channels, meetings, SharePoint sites, Planner workstreams and Viva Engage communities.

  • Windows 365 Cloud Apps Now Available for Public Preview

    Microsoft announced this week that Windows 365 Cloud Apps are now available for public preview. This aims to allow IT administrators to stream individual Windows applications from the cloud, removing the need to assign Cloud PCs to every user.