Services Remodeling

Next month at the Microsoft Global Summit, Worldwide Vice President of Services Mike Sinneck plans to unveil a reorganization for the U.S. subsidiary that calls for a regional services model with four U.S. operation areas (East, West, Central and South) to oversee the 35 practice and support organizations now scattered nationwide, according to a Microsoft memo obtained by CRN. The reorganization, due to go into effect July 1, also calls for more professional and consistent customer-service capabilities to serve enterprise needs.

AT A GLANCE: MICROSOFT'S NEW PLAN FOR CONSULTING AND SERVICES

>> Text goes here for a callout that will four to five lines.
>> CURRENT STRUCTURE: 35 practice and support organizations spread across multiple U.S. territories.
>> NEW STRUCTURE: Regional model with four U.S. services areas: East, West, Central and South. Each regional unit will have a dedicated services team.
>> EXECUTIVES: Mike Sinneck, worldwide VP of services, and Kevin Johnson, U.S. VP of sales and marketing.
>> NEW POSITIONS PLANNED: Enterprise services manager, services executive, engagement manager, solutions architect.
>> OBJECTIVE: To create an end-to-end, more consistent customer-service capability that can better serve the needs of enterprises and help the U.S. unit drive $15 billion in product revenue by fiscal year 2006.
>> MARKET FOCUS: Large and midsize enterprises.
>> EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2002.

Source: Company memo

"Our current model, with services fragmented across multiple geographies and practices, is limiting," said the memo, signed by Sinneck and U.S. Vice President of Sales and Marketing Kevin Johnson, who oversees Microsoft's U.S. business. "Consulting and support services are key components of our future growth in the enterprise to enhance the value proposition of our products. We are moving to a regional model across the four [Microsoft U.S. regions . . . that will enable us to achieve our long-term aspiration to be a significant provider of enterprise product solutions."

The planned regional model calls for more services engagements and a strong services team in each district that would be responsible for "ensuring that the work is aligned with Microsoft's sales and marketing priorities," which include driving $15 billion in product revenue across Microsoft Americas by fiscal year 2006, according to the memo.

Jim Wilson, group marketing manager of Microsoft Services, said the restructuring is aimed in part at making sure Microsoft has the right mix of services to bring to market in tandem with solution providers. "Making sure we use our strategic partner base is critical to our success," he said. "That's not just a philosophy. We are making physical monetary investments to make sure that partners are successful."

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Microsoft said in the memo that it plans to create new services positions and forge "deeper" relationships with fewer systems integration partners, such as Accenture and Unisys, to better serve enterprise needs. "Microsoft has opted for a fewer and deeper model [for integrator partners," said Lisa Neal-Graves, a vice president at Unisys, Blue Bell, Pa. "We're leveraging Microsoft's go-to-market teams to jointly develop go-to-market plans. In the past, we haven't formally done that."

One solution provider familiar with Microsoft's plan, who wished to remain anonymous, said the effort likely will have more impact in the midmarket rather than the small-business space. "It looks like a lot of the partner reps and medium-enterprise reps will be moved up to the regional level under a separate management structure," he said.