Microsoft Organization Chart

A new sales and marketing chief will lead Windows 8 sales through OEMs, and several important Microsoft subsidiaries and regions have new managers. New sales and marketing heads will also be taking on Windows Server, Dynamics products, Skype, and the company's consumer business overall.

This article summarizes executive changes at the corporate vice president level and above since May 2012. For an updated view of Microsoft's organization, see the online version of the Directions on Microsoft OrgChart.

Marketing Chief Now Leads OEM Unit

Nick Parker has been named corporate vice president, OEM. He will be responsible for defining and executing worldwide marketing strategies, programs, and campaigns with device manufacturers (original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs). Parker will oversee the ramp-up of Windows 8 sales to OEMs even as Microsoft launches its Surface mobile computers in competition with them. Parker previously led marketing for the OEM unit, and before that he managed joint sales and marketing with HP. He originally joined Microsoft from Visio, which the company acquired in 2000. Parker reports to Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner. He replaces Steve Guggenheimer.

Steve Guggenheimer has left his position as corporate vice president, OEM, which he had held since 2008, for an as-yet-unspecified role at Microsoft.

New Sales Leaders Outside United States

Eric Boustouller has been named corporate vice president and area vice president, Western Europe. He will oversee sales, management, and operations across 14 countries in the Western Europe region. A key priority for Boustouller will probably be steering Microsoft through the ongoing euro crisis; his unit includes countries such as Ireland, Portugal, and Spain that have been affected by the ongoing Euro crisis. Boustouller previously headed Microsoft France and has held several roles in that subsidiary since joining Microsoft from Compaq in 2002. He replaces Klaus Holse and reports to Jean-Philippe Courtois, president, Microsoft International.

Klaus Holse has left Microsoft and will take over as CEO of SimCorp, a financial management software firm, effective Sept. 1, 2012.

Alain Crozier has been named head of Microsoft France, replacing Eric Boustouller. Crozier was formerly CFO of Microsoft's Sales, Marketing and Services Group, and he has held several financial management positions since joining Microsoft in 1994. That experience could prove valuable in France, which is one of Microsoft's largest subsidiaries outside the United States (with more than 1,400 employees) and which is subject to an ongoing French government tax investigation, according to the newspaper Le Canard EnchÂinÉ. Crozier will report to Jean-Philippe Courtois.

HernÁn RincÓn has been promoted to corporate vice president and named president, Latin America. He previously held the title of vice president. As before, he is responsible for all of Microsoft's business in Latin America.

Windows Server, Dynamics, Skype See Sales and Marketing Changes

Michael Park has been named corporate vice president, Windows Server and management product marketing, a new position. He will be leading marketing for Windows Server, System Center, and other management and security products, all of which received major updates in 2012. Park previously headed sales, marketing, and operations for Microsoft Business Solutions, the unit that produces the Dynamics products line, and before that headed the U.S. Small and Midsize Solutions and Partners Group which manages sales to smaller firms. Park came to Microsoft in 2005 from SAP. In his new role, he reports to Takeshi Numoto, who is corporate vice president, Server and Tools Marketing.

Neil Holloway has been named corporate vice president, sales and operations, for Microsoft Business Solutions. He and a marketing chief yet to be named will take over the former responsibilities of Michael Park. Holloway will probably be overseeing important sales channel changes: the unit recently brought its primary enterprise resource planning product, Dynamics AX, into the Microsoft Volume Licensing channel for the first time, and announced updated incentive programs for partners in that channel. (See "Dynamics AX 2012 Coming to EA".) Holloway was most recently vice president of international business strategy for the Microsoft Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. He has held numerous sales and marketing roles in the region since joining Microsoft in 1990. Holloway will report to Kirill Tatarinov, president, Microsoft Business Solutions.

Elisa Steele has been hired as corporate vice president, marketing, for Microsoft's Skype unit. She will oversee the unit's global brand and marketing functions as well as local go-to-market activities. Possible priorities could include maintaining the service's rapid growth (it grew from 170 million to 250 million monthly connected users between Oct. 2011 and May 2012), improving revenue per user through advertising, and promoting the service to businesses when it interconnects with Microsoft's Lync line (planned for 2013). Steele comes to Microsoft from Yahoo, where she was chief marketing officer; she previously also held marketing positions at NetApp (a storage vendor) and Sun Microsystems. She will report to Skype President Tony Bates.

Mark Penn has been hired as corporate vice president, strategic and special projects, reporting directly to CEO Steve Ballmer. Penn will focus on strategy, branding, and positioning for the company's consumer businesses. Penn was formerly CEO of the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller and of the polling firm Penn Schoen Berland, and he has consulted for Microsoft since 1998. He is best known as a political advisor to Bill and Hillary Clinton, but says he will not work on public policy at Microsoft.