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Microsoft ex Roskill lands Acumatica CEO role

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Acumatica CEO Jon Roskill

Acumatica CEO Jon Roskill

Microsoft Corp.’s popular former channel chief Jon Roskill has a new gig as CEO of Acumatica Inc., a cloud ERP vendor focused on small and midsize businesses.

Roskill replaces Yury Larichev, who will stay on the board of the Kirkland, Wash.-based company as an advisor, according to company officials.

Roskill stepped aside from his leadership position in the Mircosoft’s Worldwide Partner Group in August, passing the reins to 17-year Redmond veteran Phil Sorgen.

Roskill, had been a corporate vice president who served as Microsoft’s channel chief for three years leading WPG and its 640,000 partners. He was said to have been returning to an unspecified product development role, according to company officials at the time. In his 20 years in Redmond, Roskill had also run Microsoft’s U.S. business operations, strategy and marketing and served as general manager of the Server and Developer Tools division.

“This is the perfect time to enter the ERP marketplace,” said Roskill. “The customers are asking for cloud solutions now, and unlike most of the competitors out there, there’s no lack of clarity about cloud here at Acumatica. We’ve got a cloud solution, we’re built and architected for the cloud, and we’re here to disrupt the $60 billion marketplace.

“Everything I’ve done for the last 20 years of my career has been with and through partners,” Roskill added in an introductory video aimed at Acumatica’s channel rsellers. “There’s no lack of clarity about the Acumatica go-to-market. Acumatica is 100 percent with and through partners as we go to market together.”

Larichev was gracious and supportive regarding the leadership change: “Since I joined, Acumatica has seen tremendous growth, and this will continue under Jon’s leadership. He is the right person, at the right time, for Acumatica. I’m excited to see him take Acumatica to new heights.”

The privately-held Acumatica posted 350 percent year-over-year revenue growth in 2013, a rise officials credit to the company’s successful partner recruitment efforts. The number of partners doubled to more than 270 last year.

“I’m here and I’m ready to make some impact,” said Roskill. “I love being an underdog and taking the bigger guys on. It’s time Acumatica made its stamp on ERP history. Bring it on.”