Narayan AmmachchiU.S. computing giant Microsoft has named senior executive Cesar Cernuda as its corporate vice president for Latin America, raising the speculation that it would scale up operations in the region.
Cernuda will oversee the company’s six subsidiaries, more than 2,500 employees, and the business relation with as many as 80,000 partners in the region. The appointment comes just weeks after reports that Microsoft is scaling down operations in Brazil, the region’s biggest economy and a key market for IT.
Cernuda previously served Microsoft in Latin America as its vice president of sales, marketing and services, and has been with the computing giant for 19 years after joining the company in Spain in 1997.
Microsoft’s Windows Phone fans in Brazil launched an online protest some weeks ago when some of its stores were closed in the country. Moreover, Microsoft has invested a huge sum of money in providing IT training in the region in addition to financing technology start-up incubators.
But the current economic turmoil and the tendency of levying high tax on imported hardware seem to have hurt the company’s business in some countries, particularly in Brazil. Analysts hope that Cernuda will work with authorities in the region to remove the obstacles standing in the way of the US firm.
“I could not be more motivated to return to Latin America, one of the most dynamic and vibrant regions for Microsoft and a part of the world with which I am familiar and passionate,” Cernuda commented on his appointment.
Born in Madrid and married with a son and daughter, César holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Marketing from ESIC University in Spain.
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