MBS To Lose Key Executive With Departure Of Uecker-Rust

The news, disclosed internally two weeks ago, was confirmed Tuesday by a Microsoft spokeswoman, who said Uecker-Rust will remain on the job until July. She is leaving the company to spend more time with her family and friends, according to Microsoft.

Uecker-Rust helped engineer MBS' acquisition of Navision two years ago and spent more than a year in Europe to help integrate the Danish-based company into MBS.Uecker-Rust joined Fargo, N.D.-based ISV Great Plains nearly 20 years ago, according to her biography on Microsoft's Web site.

Microsoft announced plans to buy Great Plains in late 2000, and the software company became the foundation for MBS and Microsoft's foray into business applications. In May 2002, Microsoft augmented its MBS effort by acquiring Navision. Since then, MBS has launched an aggressive push into midmarket financial and ERP applications.

Uecker-Rust reported to Doug Burgum, formerly president of Great Plains and now the Microsoft senior vice president heading MBS. Many industry observers deemed Uecker-Rust the de facto No. 2 executive in MBS and, as a result, were surprised by her planned departure. Though Microsoft executives say they're happy with the business momentum of MBS, which had 40 percent revenue growth for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2003, the division showed just 4 percent revenue growth for the most recently closed quarter. Many observers say the pressure is now on MBS to show stronger growth and profitability.

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The Microsoft spokeswoman stressed that Burgum still fronts an experienced senior management team, including Tami Reller, corporate vice president of marketing at MBS, and Satya Nadella, corporate vice president of the Business Solutions Group. Uecker-Rust's responsibilities will be shared by that team, according to Microsoft.