Neil Holloway, the UK managing director at Microsoft, has
been appointed corporate vice president at the software
giant.Holloway, who will also become vice president
of sales, marketing and services for the EMEA region, has been at
Microsoft UK for 13 years. He presided over last year’s
controversial licensing changes, which were heavily criticised by
UK IT users but led to a massive rise in revenue for Microsoft in
the second half of 2002.
The appointment, which was announced in an
e-mail to Microsoft employees by chief executive officer Steve
Ballmer earlier this week, is effective from July, although
Holloway will continue to hold his current position until a
successor has been appointed.
Holloway will report to Jean-Phillippe
Courtois, who has been appointed to the role of chief executive
officer of Microsoft in EMEA.
"I am really excited about this new role,
and the opportunity to take my experiences outside of the UK
and into EMEA, while at the same time having a chance to learn more
about the way this business works,” Holloway said.