Microsoft has announced that channel chief Rodney Clark will be leaving the company after more than a year in the role and after more than 24 years with the tech giant.  His successor will be named at Microsoft’s annual Inspire partner conference in July, as per Microsoft's blog post.

Rodney Clark had recently been elevated to the role of Corporate Vice President, Channel Sales and Channel Chief in March 2021, a major feather in the cap of a veteran with over two decades of relationship with the IT giants.

Nick Parker, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Global Partner Solutions, said, “This type of role has been in Rodney’s sights as part of his long-term career plan, the timing was sooner than we anticipated. We have a deep and talented bench of leaders who are in place to deliver business continuity with our partners and programs without interruption.”

He also added that they [Microsoft] are actively discussing Rodney’s successor and expect to have a new leader in place by the beginning of our new fiscal year in July and introduce this person at Microsoft Inspire, their annual partner conference on July 19-20, 2022.

Clark started with Microsoft in 1998 where he held various positions, including global sales strategy and business development in Microsoft’s hardware division. He also worked for  eight years with IBM, leaving the tech giant in 1998 with the title of sales and marketing manager.