Microsoft services boss to step down

The head of Microsoft's services unit is stepping down, the company said Wednesday.

The software maker said that Rick Devenuti, a former Microsoft chief information officer and a 19-year company veteran, will leave at year's end. A Microsoft representative said in an e-mail that the 48-year-old Devenuti is retiring to "focus his attention on his family and consider his next challenge."

Credit: Microsoft

Rick Devenuti

A successor is expected to be named in the next month, Microsoft said. Devenuti will work with that new person "to ensure a smooth transition before his departure at the end of this calendar year," the company added.

Devenuti has held a variety of posts at Microsoft, including heading the company's internal technology efforts, as well as holding positions in operations and financial analysis. He added responsibility for Microsoft's services effort to his IT duties in 2003.

Among the projects begun under Devenuti's watch was a test program in which Microsoft is managing desktop computers for other companies. The effort began with battery maker Energizer Holdings in March 2005. The company has since added a second customer, XL Capital.