The Latest Microsoft Reorganization Should Be A Good Thing For Partners

Ayala, who was head of worldwide sales, marketing and services, is moving into the newly created role of group vice president of small and midmarket solutions and partners. The title is certainly a mouthful, but it essentially means that Ayala is charged with driving go-to-market strategies for small businesses and midsize accounts and, as a result, will be the top influencer at Microsoft concerning channel strategies. Allison Watson, who replaced Rosa Garcia one year ago as Microsoft's top channel executive, will now report to Ayala, who in turn reports to Jeff Raikes.

On the face of it, the move means Ayala will be one more step removed from Steve Ballmer, whom he used to report to directly. But from my perspective, Microsoft now has a line of command that is very well-schooled on channel dynamics. Ballmer, Raikes, Ayala and Watson are all well aware of how to leverage the channel to drive solutions into the hands of end users.

Ayala has been instrumental in turning Microsoft's focus back onto its channel. In my opinion, he was a key player in the move by the company to pull back on Microsoft Consulting Services and an advocate for measuring managers on channel satisfaction and end-user feedback.

Ayala is passionate and direct, and he understands that in small businesses it is the solution provider who makes the majority of the technology decisions.

I've had many discussions with Ballmer and Raikes over the years concerning the channel. The time I've spent with Watson and Ayala is more recent but no less interesting. Without question, all four of these folks are very deep thinkers when it comes to going to market with solution providers.

When speaking at a recent channel event, I mentioned that I thought Microsoft was on the right track with the channel. More than one Microsoft channel partner approached me afterward to ask why I felt that way, because they thought the company had moved away from them.

I agree that Microsoft shifted too far toward a concentration on consulting services several years ago in its attempt to capture more enterprise business. But over the past 12 months I believe it has begun moving back in the right direction.

Time will tell, and as the company settles into this new organization, we will have to watch closely.

Microsoft sees a $20 billion opportunity in the midmarket, according to Watson, and this reorganization is designed to help capture it. Ayala's role will be to drive this business through solution providers, Watson says.

Of course, there are a number of issues Microsoft must resolve as it continues the transition of leadership from Bill Gates to Steve Ballmer.

Licensing issues continue to be a problem. Additionally, solution providers in the custom-built systems arena have issues with the cost of Microsoft's operating system. More and more of the channel is pushing Linux as an alternative, and Microsoft is not responding to its channel partners aggressively enough. The .Net push is also still a mystery in many ways, and Microsoft has yet to communicate exactly how the channel will participate.

You and I are going to have our issues with Microsoft in the future, but it's not going to be for lack of a solid management team surrounding channel strategy,at least not while these four executives are in place.

Make something happen. I can be reached at (516) 562-7812 or via e-mail at [email protected].