Roskill out as Microsoft channel chief

Corporate vice president of the vendor's worldwide partner group to be replaced by former US SMS&P boss Phil Sorgen next week

Microsoft's global channel chief Jon Roskill is set to be replaced by US Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners (SMS&P) group boss Phil Sorgen next week.

Roskill (pictured) - who has held the role for three years - said he will return to his product-development roots when Sorgen formally takes over the role from 1 September.

Prior to his global channel appointment, Sorgen led Microsoft's US SMS&P group following a three-and-a-half year stint as the vendor's Canadian president. He has been at Microsoft for 17 years in total.

Microsoft said Sorgen is tasked with helping its 640,000-strong partner community capitalise on new areas of growth in cloud, mobility, big data and social enterprise - the key areas which form the basis of the vendor's current strategy, as laid out by boss Steve Ballmer as its Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston last month.

Last Friday, Ballmer announced he will retire from the roll within the next 12 months, but will stay on while a replacement is found.

New channel chief Sorgen will report to Vahé Torossian, Microsoft's corporate vice president of worldwide SMS&P, who said: "Phil's rich leadership experience in working with our customers and partners in the US and Canada makes him an ideal fit to help our partners drive new opportunities as Microsoft transforms into a company delivering devices and high-value cloud services."

Roskill wished his successor the best of luck on his blog, and added that he was confident that he will continue to grow and diversify Microsoft's partner ecosystem to meet customers' needs.