Microsoft memo: Realigning the Windows unit

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3. Agility: Lay the foundation for accelerating our pace of innovation, including focusing on ways to improve clarity of decision making, drive greater accountability, and reduce layers in the organization so we can move faster. It also means utilizing existing expertise within the division to embrace services -- and rapid release cycles that services can enable -- to all aspects of our business. Our software + service approach and the expertise we have built in MSN can support innovation agility as we enable the Live era.

As part of the next step of Jim's transition, we discussed when it was appropriate to move his direct reports to me, and decided that this organization change was the right time. Jim's overall partnership role with me in running PSD will not be changing.

The PSD leadership team I've put in place to align against these key objectives includes:

• Steven Sinofsky, SVP Engineering, Windows and Windows Live Group
• Brian Valentine, SVP COSD
• Blake Irving, CVP, Windows Live Platform Group
• David Cole, SVP, Online Business Group
• Yusuf Mehdi, SVP, Chief Advertising Strategist
• Mike Sievert, CVP Windows Client Marketing
• Will Poole, SVP Market Expansion Group
• Bob Muglia, SVP Server and Tools Business Group
• Sanjay Parthasarathy, CVP Developer and Platform Evangelism
• Brent Callinicos, CFO and CVP Finance Group
• Rick Thompson, CVP supporting a special assignment
• Darryn Dieken, Technical Assistant
• Brian "Skip" Schipper, GM Human Resources
• Mary Snapp, CVP and Deputy General Counsel, Legal and Corporate Affairs

I know change is never easy but I truly appreciate the focus that people throughout PSD have on innovation and the wave of products and services our team is delivering to the marketplace is impressive. These changes are intended to help us increase our agility, embrace the concept of software + services, and position us for an exciting future together.

Let's continue to impress customers and partners with our innovation, and drive satisfaction to levels we've never achieved before. Let's also stay focused on our priorities as we make this transition and align our organization for the future.

For those of you who will be on campus in Redmond on Friday, March 24, I hope you can join me in person, in B33/McKinley Room, from 10:00 - 11:00am. The meeting will start promptly at 10:00 a.m., so please plan on arriving a few minutes early to ensure you get a seat.

I hope everyone else will watch the webcast, which will be streamed live on the intranet and archived there for later viewing.

Thank you for your contribution and your continued focus on innovation and our customers.

Kevin