Microsoft To Expand Its U.S. Sales Force

During its 2003 fiscal year, which started July 1, Microsoft plans to create 450 new positions in its U.S. sales team and redeploy another 115 employees nationwide. The software vendor currently employs 6,000 in the sales division.

As part of the initiative, Microsoft also plans to reorganize its U.S. sales division according to vertical solutions. The move calls for the company to have 12 vertical organizations, including the following new units: automotive manufacturing, high-tech manufacturing, oil and gas, media and entertainment, telecommunications, health care and professional services.

Microsoft's existing vertical groups include financial services, state and local government, federal government, education and retail.

The staff additions and sharper vertical focus will help Microsoft more deeply penetrate the enterprise space and offer more sophisticated solutions in existing and new markets, according to Kevin Johnson, senior vice president of Microsoft Americas.

"This investment isn't just an initiative for our largest enterprise customers. We're also expanding our support to small- and medium-size customers," Johnson said in a statement. "We've had a lot of feedback from our partners and customers about ways we could be more effective. We've listened and responded."

New technical specialists hired as part of the expansion will focus on server, developer and knowledge worker solutions. Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS) will partner with these specialists to enable .Net application development, infrastructure deployment, support and systems management, and technology strategy, according to Microsoft.

The head-count growth won't create sales conflicts for Microsoft channel partners, company executives said. Allison Watson, vice president of worldwide partner sales and marketing, who becomes Microsoft's new channel chief on Aug. 1, said the sales force expansion will help pump up business for the channel.

"We are 100 percent committed to partners," Watson said. "Having more salespeople will allow us to better serve our mutual customers."

A bigger Microsoft sales team will make the revenue pie bigger for all and won't be a problem for channel partners as long as the vendor stands by its new channel and sales policies, said Harry Zoberman, senior vice president of marketing and operations at ASAP Software, Buffalo Grove, Ill., a longtime Microsoft large-account reseller and now an Enterprise Software Agent.

"It's not a hit at all. Microsoft is selling more products for more customer segments than ever before," Zoberman said. "In the end, that's what's driving the sales expansion. Microsoft remains devoted to the energies and values of the channel."