https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • Analytics
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud
    • Data Centers
    • Desktop
    • IoT
    • Mobility
    • Networking
    • Open Source
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Virtualization
    • Voice/Connectivity
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Best Practices
    • Business Models
    • Channel 101
    • Channel Programs
    • Channel Research
    • Digital Transformation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Leadership
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Specialty Practices
  • MSSP Insider
    • Back
    • Business of Security
    • Cloud and Edge
    • Endpoint
    • Network
    • People and Careers
    • Training and Policies
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Our Sponsors
    • From the Industry
    • Content Resources
    • COVID-19 Partner Help
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Reports
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • EMEA
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • 2020 MSP 501
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Partners Evolution
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
  • Channel Mentor
    • Back
    • Channel Market Intelligence
    • Channel Educational Series
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • Analytics
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud
    • Data Centers
    • Desktop
    • IoT
    • Mobility
    • Networking
    • Open Source
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Virtualization
    • Voice/Connectivity
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Best Practices
    • Business Models
    • Channel 101
    • Channel Programs
    • Channel Research
    • Digital Transformation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Leadership
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Specialty Practices
  • MSSP Insider
    • Back
    • Business of Security
    • Cloud and Edge
    • Endpoint
    • Network
    • People and Careers
    • Training and Policies
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Our Sponsors
    • From the Industry
    • Content Resources
    • COVID-19 Partner Help
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Reports
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • EMEA
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • 2020 MSP 501
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Partners Evolution
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
  • Channel Mentor
    • Back
    • Channel Market Intelligence
    • Channel Educational Series
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Digital Service Providers
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • CHANNEL PARTNERS ONLINE
 Channel Futures

Sales & Marketing


Microsoft founding board member David Marquardt has been a director for 32 years

Does Microsoft’s Board Need a Shakeup?

  • Written by DH Kass 1
  • February 4, 2014

With Microsoft (MSFT) expected to anoint enterprise and cloud boss Satya Nadella momentarily as its chief executive successor to Steve Ballmer, does the vendor’s nine-member board of directors also need a shakeup?

With Microsoft (MSFT) expected to anoint enterprise and cloud boss Satya Nadella momentarily as its chief executive successor to Steve Ballmer, does the vendor’s nine-member board of directors also need a shakeup?

Keep in mind Microsoft is mulling a raft of simultaneous, tectonic shifts on a number of fronts, including: Nadella’s ascension; possibly transforming Bill Gates from chairman to technology godfather; absorbing the $7.2 billion Nokia (NOK) acquisition; and digesting new board member Mason Morfit, activist investor ValueAct president who’s likely to push for fewer consumer products and more business software and cloud services sales.

Add in that Microsoft only a few months ago redefined itself as a devices and services company, trying to foster an internally collaborative rather than combative environment. While it may be too much to say the company’s in an upheaval, it’s not enough merely to say there’s a lot going on up in Redmond.

Should Nadella get the nod, one observation making the rounds is that he’s a safe pick for the board, reflecting its conservative leanings against a full-fledged departure from the blueprint Ballmer’s already put in place. A strategy that seems to be working, judging from the vendor’s stellar Q2 performance.

On the other hand, the board’s so-called staid nature—with four of its seven independent directors seated for more than nine years—may not reflect enough youth to guide the vendor toward the new, innovative technologies it will need to progress under Nadella. In other words, does Microsoft’s board need the nerve that only fresh members could deliver?

Of Microsoft’s seven independent directors, five have held their seats for at least four years—one at four years, another at nine years, two for 10 years and another for more than 30 years. More importantly, none of the longer-serving directors have a technology-flavored background.

In fact, the board’s non-Microsoft members include four with finance or capital experience and only three whose backgrounds are IT-related. For example, David Marquardt is a 34-year venture capital veteran and a founding member of Microsoft’s board since June 30, 1981. Charles Noski, a former Bank of America vice chairman and CFO, has served on Microsoft’s board since November 2003. Dr. Helmut Panke, a former BMW top executive, joined Microsoft’s board as a nonexecutive director in November 2003. And, Dina Dublon, a former JPMorgan Chase CFO, has been a Microsoft director since March 2005.

Technology experience is commanded only by the board’s junior members, all of whom have four years or fewer as directors. Dr. Maria Klawe, Harvey Mudd College president and former dean of engineering and professor of computer science at Princeton, is a four-year board member, joining in March 2009. Stephen Luczo, Seagate’s (SEA) president, has been a Microsoft board member for a year and a half, and John Thompson, former Symantec (SYMC) chief and IBM (IBM) top executive, has been a director for about two years.

Thompson’s name has been bandied about as Microsoft’s new chairman should the board elect to replace Gates in that role. He is said to be uninterested in the job.

According to the Seattle Times, when Ballmer retires and if Gates slips out of his chairman’s spot but retains a director’s seat, he and Nadella would be the only board members living in the local area, in stark contrast to the company’s heyday. Moreover, a number of its directors reside now in enemy territory in Microsoft-bashing Silicon Valley. Going forward, that may not color the board’s input on the company’s strategy, but the absence of local flavor is noticeable as the company morphs into a new entity.

As an insider well-schooled in Microsoft’s tools for businesses, Nadella may benefit as much from the business and finance experience of Microsoft’s board as he would its technology perspectives. But as the company latches on to innovative new technologies, a more youthful look and feel might afford him—and the company—larger dividends.

Tags: Cloud Service Providers Digital Service Providers MSPs VARs/SIs Sales & Marketing

Related


  • Akamai Technologies Partners Migrating to New Channel Program
    Akamai partners will migrate to the new program over a six-month transition period.
  • Ready, Set, Go
    New, Changing Partner Programs: AWS, Tech Data, Avaya, Verizon
    Vendors and distributors thanked partners for their efforts in 2020 and geared up for 2021.
  • Business hands together, diversity
    Intel Partner Alliance Unifies All Programs, Provides New Opportunities
    The new program is designed to enhance Intel's relationship with valued partners.
  • Select a Hire
    Commvault Partners Get New Global Leader with Dell EMC Vet
    Mercer Rowe is moving to a new role strengthening Commvault's Asia Pacific business.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • MSP 501 Profile: DCG Technical Solutions on the Managed Services Pivot
  • MSP 501 ‘MSP of the Year’ Finalist TeamLogic IT on Adapting to Industry Trends
  • MSP 501 Newcomer Award: Oosha Limited Comes of Age
  • High Stress, Demand for Security Services Among MSP Pain Points

Galleries

View all

New, Changing Partner Programs: AWS, Tech Data, Avaya, Verizon

January 11, 2021

Industry Perspectives

View all

Help Your Customers Mitigate Malware: Viruses, Worms, and Trojans…Oh My!

January 15, 2021

SMBs’ Cybersecurity Risk Awareness Is Rising

January 13, 2021

Your Cloud Data Is Protected, But Is It Portable?

January 12, 2021

Webinars

View all

Blueprint for a Scalable MSSP Practice in 2021

January 21, 2021

Who’s Behind the Mask? Hacker Personas Explained

January 26, 2021

How Managed Hosting Providers Thrive with the Alternative Cloud

February 24, 2021

White Papers

View all

Why Subscription Business Model

January 15, 2021

The Ultimate MSP Guide to Sales Efficiency

January 14, 2021

Eight Reasons Why MSPs Need IT Industry-Specific Sales Tools

January 14, 2021

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Virtual

March 2, 2021 - March 4, 2021

Channel Partners Conference & Expo

November 1, 2021 - November 4, 2021

Videos and Fastchats

View all

FASTCHAT: How SOAR Eliminates Security Challenges and Elevates Service Provider Revenues

January 6, 2021

Happy Holidays from Channel Partners & Channel Futures!

December 21, 2020

FASTCHAT: How Old, Unpatched Technologies Are Creating New Security Threats for MSPs and Their Customers

December 3, 2020

Twitter

ChannelFutures

.@IBMServices snaps up #MSP Taos for #hybridcloud expertise. dlvr.it/RqggQR https://t.co/Fy3uPDtLNw

January 16, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@LenovoBusiness launches its thinnest #ThinkPad to date @CES, revamped ThinkBooks and #ThinkReality glasses.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 16, 2021
ChannelFutures

Help your customers mitigate #malware @Tech_Data #cryptolocker #antivirus #ransomware #cybersecurity… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

January 15, 2021
ChannelFutures

Advantages of the Subscription business model for MSPs and IT Resellers @kaspersky dlvr.it/RqgDJn https://t.co/ay694fudp3

January 15, 2021
ChannelFutures

Cloud #distributor @Pax8 launches in UK with leadership team in place. dlvr.it/RqfJWx https://t.co/RsKDCowM5V

January 15, 2021
ChannelFutures

bit.ly/3oO2vFY twitter.com/Craig_Galbrait…

January 15, 2021
ChannelFutures

The Ultimate MSP Guide to Sales Efficiency @zomentum dlvr.it/Rqc63q https://t.co/rHIVLkR01K

January 15, 2021
ChannelFutures

Eight Reasons Why MSPs Need IT Industry-Specific Sales Tools dlvr.it/Rqc62k https://t.co/MQDcIYc7G9

January 15, 2021

MSSP Insider

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Channel Partners Online

Want more? Find more channel news and analysis on our sister site, Channel Partners.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Online
  • Channel Partners Events
  • MSP 501
  • MSSP Insider
  • IoT World Today
  • Webhostingtalk

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X