Microsoft Has Gap Atop North American Sales Org

Who is Microsoft's vice president in charge of North American sales?

Answer:

No one. At least on paper. And that has been true since February.

An astute partner pinged yesterday demanding to know "what's going on with [Bill] Veghte? He had all NA sales, and now is with Windows. He had SMS&P and enterprise, so now who has it? Who's the acting lead?"

A call to Directions on Microsoft netted, after much searching of org charts, this answer: TBD.

A Microsoft spokesman subsequently confirmed that no one has been named to the post vacated when Microsoft moved Bill Veghte from North American sales and marketing to the Windows business unit in February.

It's a pretty good guess that a successor will be named going into the new fiscal year, starting July 1. One name that's cropped up as a possible successor is Michael Park. He's the 15-year SAP vet Microsoft brought aboard in October 2005 as corporate vice president of the U.S. Small and Midmarket SolutionsPartners Group (SMS&P).

Others mentioned Jens Winther Moberg, corporate vice president US Enterprise and Partner Group.

Still, one might think that's a pretty important job to leave open that long.

A company insider offered a contrarian view: "I guess you could argue given the last quarter's numbers, that maybe we don't need a VP of North American sales."

The top Americas sales spot isn't the only exec hole the company has to fill. Business division president Jeff Raikes and Tami Reller are sorting through who should be the next exec to head Microsoft Business Solutions, after the departure of Doug Burgum and entrance-then-quick-departure of Satya Nadella.