A shake-up of the partner organization is underway at Microsoft Canada (NASDAQ: MSFT) that will see the software giant’s channel partners across Canada working with a new channel chief.
In a statement, a Microsoft Canada spokesperson said the vendor’s Small Business, Midmarket Solutions & Partners (SMS&P) division is evolving to better meet the needs of the customer and partner communities. The goal is a closer alignment between the company’s customer engagement and channel execution models to make better use of resources.
While vice-president Eric Gales will continue to lead the SMS&P division, under him will be a newly formed partner sales team led by Corinne Sharp as director, partner sales team. It’s a promotion for Sharp, who had previously held the position of director of the reseller channel for Microsoft Canada.
“These changes build on the success of the partner organization in the Canadian market, and represent a positive evolution of the model that has been developed in the past two years,” said the statement. “They are happening to strengthen and align the organization from the inside. From a partner perspective, the proven engagement model will continue. Partners will still be able to rely on partner account managers and the wealth of additional resources in their relationship with Microsoft in Canada.”
The position of director of the partner group for Microsoft Canada was previously held by Lora Gernon, one of CDN’s Top 25 Newsmakers of 2009 and a Microsoft Canada channel veteran. The statement did not mention Gernon’s current status with the company.