News
Jim Ewel Retires From Microsoft
- By Scott Bekker
- 01/09/2001
One of Windows 2000’s leading promoters has left
Microsoft Corp. after 12 years. Jim Ewel, former
vice president of marketing, IT infrastructure and hosting, retired late
last year.
Ewel was responsible
for marketing Windows 2000 on the server side. His aggressive push for Windows
adoption in enterprise applications led Dan Kusnetzky, program
vice president, system software at IDC Corp., to dub Ewel “Mr. Wiindows 2000
Datacenter Server.”
A Microsoft
spokesperson said that Ewel’s last day at Microsoft was Dec. 22, 2000. Redmond
is current searching for a replacement.
Ewel began his
career at Microsoft as a sales manager at its Chicago office, eventually taking
charge of Microsoft’s SQL database group. He also led the push for Windows
Servers in the enterprise, leading Server and BackOffice marketing.
Kusnetzky says
that although Ewel was an asset to Microsoft’s enterprise program, it is
unlikely that Windows 2000 will suffer as a result of his departure. “That won’t
mean Windows 2000 will run aground and be floundering on the rocks,” Kusnetzky
says asserting that the Windows 2000 team is filled with talented and ambitious
people.
Rob Enderle, Vice President and Research Leader, at the Giga Information Group, believes that Ewel may have felt pressure to leave Microsoft. "The marketing campaign for Windows 2000 was largely seen as ineffective," he says, noting that Ewel was responsible the campaign. "I tend to think he was given an incentive to retire," Enderle says.
Kusnetzky says it is possible that the release of Windows 2000
Datacenter Server offered the Ewel an opportunity to leave. “Maybe they finished
their project and wanted to move on,” he says, “It would certainly explain the
circumstances.” - Christopher McConnell
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.