Sage North America  just announced that Robert Deshaies, a former  VP who helped developed the partner strategy for Microsoft and also worked on their SaaS strategies as well as managing field operations for MS Dynamics.

Robert Deshaies is the second Microsoft executive to join Sage in the last year. Tom Miller joined Sage in June 2009 as their Vice President – North American Channel Management after having spent a combined 17 years at Great Plains and Microsoft.

In February 2009 Sage made permanent the appointment of Jodi Uecker-Rust as the President of Sage Business Solutions. Jodi herself was widely known as Doug Burgum’s second in command for many years at Great Plans and subsequently Microsoft when they acquired Great plains.

Deshaies appears to replace Himanshu Palsule who is still very much at Sage (I can vouch for that personally as he’s here at President’s Circle in Arizona as is Robert Deshaies).

While there’s no title given for Himanshu’s new position, he was recently the only Sage North America executive featured on the Sage ERP X3 webcast live from Paris France.  Perhaps an announcement is pending on his new role and title.

The move to hire talent from the Great Plains / Microsoft pool is certainly a positive one for Sage. Great Plains had long been respected for their strong commitment to their sales channel as well as unrelenting focus on customer support.

The full press release follows:

Sage Organizational Announcement

Introducing Robert Deshaies, EVP SBS

Dear Sage Business Partner,

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Robert Deshaies as executive vice president, Sage Business Solutions. Robert will lead our Construction and Real Estate Business as well as our group of Specialized Solutions businesses (Sage FAS Fixed Assets, Employer Solutions, and the Value product families). He will also assume the interim day-to-day general manager’s responsibilities for our Construction and Real Estate (CRE) business until a new leader is hired, after which he will continue to provide oversight.

Robert brings more than 20 years of industry experience to Sage. Most recently, he was with Microsoft as vice president of the U.S. Partner Group, accountable for partner strategy, group management, business development, marketing, and sales. He has also led sales, marketing, and services for Microsoft’s eastern region, including all products and partner channels. Before working at Microsoft, Robert gained extensive experience and knowledge in business software with State of the Art, Solomon, and Great Plains in product management, sales, marketing, consulting services, and general management. As such he brings a very strong understanding of the industry and business to Sage.

Please join me, too, in thanking Himanshu Palsule, who has been providing executive leadership to the Specialized Solutions team, while also leading our divisional business strategy. This change will enable Himanshu to focus 100 percent on our business strategy to insure we have industry-competitive solutions today and into the future. With more than 12 years at Sage and over 20 years in our industry, we are fortunate to have Himanshu’s focused leadership in this critically important area of product and marketing strategy.

We have a great opportunity before us and I believe these announcements will accelerate our position in the industry.

Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment,

Jodi Uecker-Rust
President, Sage Business Solutions
Sage North America