Microsoft appoints new Asia Pacific GM for its SMB unit

• 18-yr Microsoft veteran Valerie Beaulieu to lead development of SMB offerings
• More than 95% of Microsoft business in region done through partners

MICROSOFT Corp has appointed Valerie Beaulieu (pic) its general manager for Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners (SMS&P) in Asia Pacific, succeeding Stanimira Koleva who has decided to leave to pursue new opportunities.
 
Beaulieu will be responsible for developing the company's small and medium business offerings for Asia Pacific as the region continues to demand technologies across cloud, mobility, business intelligence and social, the company said in a statement.
 
She will also be driving overall channel engagement for the Microsoft partner community, which is key in expanding the company’s reach in the region as more than 95% of its business is done through partners in Asia.
 
According to the Asian Development Bank, small and medium businesses (SMBs) make up 98% of businesses in Asia Pacific, accounting for 64% of employment, but contributing to only 38% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – indicating the huge growth potential of the segment, Microsoft said in its statement.
 
“Technology plays a key role in enabling SMBs to compete in a mobile-first, cloud-first world, so developing our partner community to reach them is also critical to their success,” said Beaulieu.
 
“The IT ecosystem has been core to our success for 35 years and will continue to be important to our ability to scale to the billions of users in Asia,” she added.
 
Beaulieu joins Microsoft Asia Pacific after three years in the United States at the company’s global headquarters with Worldwide Sales Operations & Strategy at Microsoft Advertising & Online, where she was most recently general manager and chief operations officer.
 
In that role, she orchestrated all revenue-related activities across the world to maximise monetisation of Microsoft consumer products.
 
Prior to joining Microsoft Advertising, she was sales director for Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners in France, where she doubled its growth and drove partner satisfaction scores to the highest in the subsidiary’s history, Microsoft said.
 
During her 18-year tenure with Microsoft, she has held a number of senior positions both in sales and marketing.
 
She started her technology career as a marketing manager for one of the biggest European IT resellers.
 
Beaulieu will report to István Papp, vice-president, Sales, Marketing & Services, Microsoft Asia Pacific.
 
“Advertising & Online is an extremely fast-paced environment, and Valerie [Beaulieu] has been a force in constantly re-evaluating the advertising business model and driving transformation while delivering results,” said Papp.
 
“I look forward to seeing her drive, passion and valuable experience from across various subsidiaries lift to new heights our SMS&P efforts in Asia Pacific, which continues to be one of the fastest-growing and most important regions for Microsoft,” he added.
 
Beaulieu relocates with her husband and two children to Singapore and commenced her new role on July 3.
 
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