Microsoft Announces New Partner Organization, Q2 Azure Performance

Microsoft establishes a new partner organization to drive AI and other tech sales through partners. The company also admitted Azure sales challenges while seeing other areas grow.

Written By: Jordan Smith
Feb 5, 2025
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Global technology leader Microsoft recently announced the formation of the Microsoft Small, Medium Enterprises and Channel (SME&C) partner organization to provide customers, regardless of size, the ability to leverage and derive value from AI.

Haupter, Abu-Ltaif enter new roles

The company announced that Ralph Haupter, who was the president of Microsoft EMEA, will lead the partner organization. At the same time, Samer Abu-Ltaif, the current CVP of Microsoft Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, will slide into the role of president for Microsoft EMEA as Haupter transitions into his new position.

“Having had the privilege of leading our EMEA business for the past five years– a period marked by unprecedented innovation and customer impact– this transition is an exciting time for me both professionally and personally,” Haupter said in a LinkedIn post. “My time at Microsoft began 20 years ago, focusing on our EMEA distributors. I then led the Small and Midmarket Solutions & Partners Group for Western Europe before overseeing our all-up business in Germany, China, and Asia. I am excited to apply my global perspective and institutional knowledge to lead our SME&C team.”

Microsoft cites the naming of Haupter to this new leadership role as a way to leverage his broad leadership experience from across EMEA and his prior stint in Asia.

Abu-Ltaif has served at Microsoft for two decades, holding several leadership roles. According to the IT giant, he has initiated numerous skills development programs to provide the workforce with access to skills, technology, networks, and opportunities to succeed in AI.

“I am both humbled and honored to announce that I am taking on the role of President of Microsoft Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), driving digital transformation for our customers and partners across more than 120 markets during this pivotal era of AI,” Abu-Ltaif wrote in a LinkedIn post. “I am excited about the future and the impact we can make together.”

Microsoft earnings call

In other recent Microsoft news, the organization had its quarterly earnings call where executive vice president and CFO of Microsoft, Amy Hood, said that non-AI Azure sales saw “go-to-market execution challenges” in the vendor’s scale motion.

She attributed the challenges to the amount of time it took to implement changes surrounding balancing work with customer AI workloads and work with migrations and other fundamentals.

“As you do that, you learn with your customers and with your partners on sort of getting that balance right between where to put our investments, where to put the marketing dollars, and importantly, where to put people in terms of coverage and being able to help customers make those transitions,” said Hood.

Elsewhere, Microsoft saw year-over-year increases in revenue, operating income, net income, and diluted earnings per share.

“This quarter Microsoft Cloud revenue was $40.9 billion, up from 21 percent year-over-year,” Hood said. “We remain committed to balancing operational discipline with continued investments in our cloud and AI infrastructure.”

Collaboration in the channel has been a signature part of developing AI and improving AI solutions to enhance both efficiency and productivity. Read more about another collaboration in the AI space aimed at improving operations in asset-intensive industries.

thumbnail Jordan Smith

Jordan Smith is a news writer who has seven years of experience as a journalist, copywriter, podcaster, and copyeditor. He has worked with both written and audio media formats, contributing to IT publications such as MeriTalk, HCLTech, and Channel Insider, and participating in podcasts and panel moderation for IT events.

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