Microsoft Tools Exec Leaves for Partner DevExpress

A longtime Microsoft tools executive has left the software giant for a larger role at a smaller company in the Microsoft ecosystem.

Dave Mendlen, who was most recently senior director of the Visual Studio business at Microsoft, has been named chief marketing officer at DevExpress, effective September 10, 2011. DevExpress is a Microsoft partner that provides controls, IDE productivity tools, business application frameworks, and reporting systems for Visual Studio.

Mendlen served at Microsoft for nearly 15 years. Prior to becoming senior director of Visual Studio, Mendlen served as the speechwriter for Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer.

Also during his time at Microsoft, Mendlen was the director of Web Services strategy in the Developer Platform and Evangelism division responsible for driving Web Services excitement and standards across the industry. He also served as the director of Windows Product Management responsible for the marketing of Windows XP Home, Pro, Tablet PC and Windows XP Media Center Edition. Mendlen started at Microsoft in the Developer division and served as the lead product planner on .NET and Visual Studio .NET.

"We are very excited to have Dave Mendlen leading DevExpress into its next era of growth," said Ray Navasarkian, CEO of DevExpress, in a statement. "He is the exact combination of seasoned technology executive and savvy leader that we were looking for, and we are thrilled to have attracted such a developer-focused executive to DevExpress."

Also in a statement, Mendlen added: "DevExpress is a powerful and trusted developer brand I look forward to working together with the DevExpress leadership team to take it to the next level. On the eve of announcements related to Windows 8 and Visual Studio 11 by Microsoft, I believe there has never been a better opportunity to create new possibilities for DevExpress, its loyal customers and partners."

Mendlen said he will be in attendance at Microsoft s BUILD conference in Anaheim, Calif., where the software giant plans to shed more light on its developer strategy for Windows 8. BUILD runs Sept. 13-16.

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