Summer is coming, so the IT community may be trying to get its big news out of the way before heading off on vacation. The last few weeks saw major leadership changes at Cisco Systems and SAP Canada, confirmation of major licensing changes from Microsoft and a new channel direction from Lenovo. We get you caught up in this edition of the CDN News Roundup.
With John Chambers having already announced his retirement, speculation has been rampant for months over who would replace him as CEO. The speculation is now over; Chuck Robbins has gotten the nod. Robbins joined Cisco in 1997 and held the role of senior vice-president of worldwide operations, working with the sales and partner teams. Chambers will become executive chairman. Take a look at Chambers’ career timeline.
Former Microsoft Canada channel chief Rob Stevens has taken the same position at SAP Canada. Current SAP Canada channel chief Mary Peterson is transitioning out of that role. Peterson has been the channel chief of SAP Canada since late 2011 and has been instrumental in dramatically increasing the subsidiary’s enterprise business through channel partners.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made a passing reference to Windows as a “service” during the opening keynote at Build, but it was fleeting and easy to miss. The references he made to “Windows as a Service” during his presentation to financial analysts didn’t skirt the subject – it’s the future of the operating system.Moving to a software as a service model has been popular in the software industry over the last several years.
At the general session of Lenovo’s Accelerate event, Chris Frey did not mince words. The newly appointed vice president of North America commercial channels and SMB at Lenovo had three clear messages for the channel: Try Lenovo, get out of the annuity model, and sell everything. Frey’s statements come amidst Lenovo’s push for a new direction post integration of the x86 and Motorola’s mobility business – the One model.