Birger Steen, current vice president for small and midmarket business and distribution (SMB&D), will be leaving the company at the end of this month to become President at Parallels, a cloud services enablement software company.   As you no doubt know, Steen has played an instrumental role in helping SMBs find and use technology through his leadership in the past year.  Vahe Torossian, Corp VP for SMS&P at Microsoft, said that Birger felt this was an opportunity that he just couldn’t pass up. 

“Our small and mid-market business (SMB) leadership group, and specifically Birger Steen, has played an instrumental role in bridging the gap between the SMBs and technology through their leadership in the past year.  Microsoft remains committed to investing in small and mid-market businesses and our partners who serve them.   The list of products and offerings that we launched last year specifically for the SMBs is a great testament to the priority and focus we have with this customer segment.  I am even more excited with the opportunities that cloud computing can bring to SMBs now and in the near future.  We appreciate all that Birger has done and wish him well.” 

Steen spent eight years at Microsoft.  He moved to Redmond after leading Microsoft’s sales and marketing operations in Norway and Russia. A search for Steen’s replacement has begun. 

We are sorry that the Microsoft Partner community lost an advocate in this leader.  On the other hand, we are glad for Paralllels; they’re gaining his expertise and leadership.  Congratulations on your new role as President.  We are glad to see his career advancing and hope to see him  at future industry events.