Raikes, Flessner Expand Reach to Field

Partners who track Microsoft’s sales strategy might need to seek new ties to its product groups in the wake of recent changes to the organization. Most notably, Group Vice President Jeff Raikes has taken over field-based marketing efforts aimed at “information workers” and the sales strategy for small and medium businesses, while Senior Vice President Paul Flessner has taken command of the company’s “solution-based” sales strategy for server products. Microsoft has also appointed new leaders to guide two strategic products—Office and Exchange—into mid-2003 releases and subsequent major redesigns.

This article outlines the most important changes to the Microsoft organization at the vice-presidential level and above since July 2002. For a graphical overview of the changes, see the illustrations “Major Changes Under Allchin and Raikes” and “Major Changes Under Ayala, Cole, and Lichtman“. The changes are also reflected in the Nov. 2002 Directions on Microsoft OrgChart.