Muckleston confirms he will be staying with Microsoft but has not specified his next role.
Sheers returns to New Zealand after more than 30 years working abroad for a wide variety of tech companies including Sybase (now SAP) and EMC.
Most recently, he was Vice President and General Manager for the Software Group of Dell for Asia Pacific and Japan.
"I am delighted to return to New Zealand to lead Microsoft’s operations here and thrilled to be joining the company at the most exciting time in its history,” says Sheers, in a statement.
There is a transformation happening at Microsoft right now. You can see it in the accelerated pace of innovation, the renewed passion and energy of our people and the value that customers and partners tell us we are delivering to them.
“There is a transformation happening at Microsoft right now. You can see it in the accelerated pace of innovation, the renewed passion and energy of our people and the value that customers and partners tell us we are delivering to them. I am looking forward to building on the successful foundations already in place and helping to accelerate our current transformation,” says Sheers.
Muckleston, who has been Microsoft NZ MD since 2010, says the company is implementing a planned and structured transition from his leadership to Sheers’ and that they will be working closely together over the coming months to ensure a smooth induction process.
“The New Zealand subsidiary has gone from strength to strength locally as Microsoft has been changing and growing globally with an ambition to be the productivity and platform company for a mobile-first, cloud-first world,” says Muckleston.
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Sheers is starting on his new role next week, and will report directly to Cesar Cernuda, president of Microsoft Asia-Pacific, as part of the APAC leadership team.
Cernuda says: “I have been very impressed by Barrie’s achievements in building, managing and developing high performance teams in multiple businesses across the European and Asia Pacific regions over the past two decades. He is clearly a high energy, transformational leader who is passionate about understanding customer’s needs and then driving innovation and value creation.”
"We are looking forward very much to seeing him build on the excellent foundation laid by Paul Muckleston over the past five years as the company has transformed for a mobile-first, cloud first world.”
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