GoDaddy's India MD Quits, Rejoins Microsoft

By Vishal Goel / 1480445995
(Photo : Flickr) Internet domain registrar and web hosting company GoDaddy recently announced that it has completed an acquisition deal with one of its biggest European rival, Host Europe Group.

Rajiv Sodhi, who has served as GoDaddy's India and Australia managing director and vice president for the past four and a half years, has quit the web hosting platform to rejoin the tech giant Microsoft.

Sodhi, an MBA from the prestigious Harvard Business School, started his career with the marketing and consulting firm Sapient and software company GrapeCity India. Before GoDaddy, he spent more than eleven years at Microsoft. He said that working with the company shaped the majority of his career and is a source of diverse experiences. Sodhi joined Microsoft as a technology evangelist but eventually started running the company's SMB (server message block) and Cloud business.

Sodhi, who is rejoining Microsoft in December to head its cloud and server business, switched to GoDaddy from Microsoft in the year 2012 where he served as India director for SMB, cloud and software sales.

GoDaddy, which has its headquarter in Scottsdale, US, has several offices across its home country and in other countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Netherlands, Singapore, and the UK. GoDaddy launched its Indian operations in June 2012 from New Delhi. Sodhi, who has been with GoDaddy since the launch, played a crucial role in the company. 

GoDaddy provides a variety of services including domain name registration plans, website design and hosting packages, and some on-demand services.

According to Tech Circle, GoDaddy has about 14 million customers worldwide and has more than 63 million domain names under its management. The company, which went public last year, is valued at around $6.2 billion.

However, GoDaddy is not alone in the Indian market. Its major competitors in the country include BigRock, HostIndia.net, Net4India and Directi, which was acquired by Endurance International in 2013 for $110 million.

GoDaddy will be hiring a new managing director in India to keep its mission on the rails. According to Andrew Low Ah Kee, executive vice president at GoDaddy International, India is an important market for GoDaddy and the company is excited about the growth opportunities in the region.