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Microsoft's makeover
The plan calls for a reorganization of Microsoft into three large divisions led by individual presidents, each reporting to Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive.
• Jeff Raikes will head up the company's Business division, which will house Microsoft's Information Worker group (which includes its Office product line), and its Business Solutions packaged applications group.
• Kevin Johnson and Jim Allchin will be co-presidents of the Platform Products and Services division, which will comprise Windows Client, Server and Tools and the MSN division. Microsoft said Allchin will hold that new position until he retires, once the company ships Windows Vista at the end of next year.
• Robbie Bach will be president of the Entertainment and Devices division, which will oversee games and mobile device development.
The huge reorganization is designed to streamline the company's decision-making process and improve product development, Ballmer said in a statement.
In the past several months, some insiders and former employees have said that Microsoft has become too bureaucratic and process-driven to compete with nimbler competitors such as Google.
"Our goal in making these changes is to enable Microsoft to achieve greater agility in managing the incredible growth ahead and executing our software-based services strategy," Ballmer wrote in an e-mail sent to employees on Tuesday.
The restructuring will help Microsoft jump on opportunities that arise, said Israel Hernandez, an analyst at Lehman Brothers.
"There's not a reason they can't dominate a lot of these emerging markets themselves," Hernandez said.
The massive change indicates a deliberate shift within Microsoft to emphasize hosted software services. By bringing its MSN group into its main product unit, Microsoft intends to accelerate a move to hosted software-based services, Ballmer said in a statement.
"Our MSN organization has great expertise in innovating quickly and delivering software-based services at scale. The platform groups have great expertise in creating a software platform and user experience that touches millions of people," the CEO said.
Ray Ozzie, who joined the company as one of its three chief technical officers earlier this year, following Microsoft's acquisition of Groove Networks, will expand his responsibilities to drive the software-based services strategy.
"Under Ray's technical leadership and weaving together both software and software-based services, I see incredible opportunity to better address the changing needs of our customers' digital lifestyles and the new world of work," Ballmer wrote in the e-mail.
The reorg has been in planning stages since August, when Microsoft hired Kevin Turner, a former Wal-Mart Stores executive, to take over as chief operating officer, according to sources.
At the time, Microsoft said that Johnson, who was serving as sales chief, would move to an unspecified new role once Turner joined Microsoft this month.
Early reaction to the reorg was generally positive. "The alignment makes very good sense, given what people are doing now and what their strengths are," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research.
Gartenberg said it was too early to say whether the move marks a dramatic shift in Microsoft's overall strategy: "We know who the players are--now we have to find out what their game plans are."
Mark Stahlman, a software analyst and technology strategist for Caris & Co, agreed the reorganization makes sense for the software maker.
"Microsoft ties everything together," Stahlman said. "Having these crosslinks in their technology makes sense for them to map it out in their management structure."
But another analyst questioned the effect the change would have on the linked development of Office and Windows.
"It looks like they did, to some extent, what the Department of Justice couldn't," said Gartner analyst Michael Silver, referring to a split
See more CNET content tagged:
Jim Allchin, Steve Ballmer, reorganization, division, president
"Kevin Johnson and Jim Allchin will be co-presidents of the Platform Products and Services division[http://...|http://...]"
Doesn't sound like retirement to me...
It was a good step to make the shareholders happy by showing that they are taking action to correct issues. But, this does not mean that Longhorn will ship out any sooner or with any near the feature set they had initially promised.
upon release of Vista... For now, he's a
"co-president".
"Kevin Johnson and Jim Allchin will be co-presidents of the Platform Products and Services division[http://...|http://...]"
Doesn't sound like retirement to me...
It was a good step to make the shareholders happy by showing that they are taking action to correct issues. But, this does not mean that Longhorn will ship out any sooner or with any near the feature set they had initially promised.
upon release of Vista... For now, he's a
"co-president".
Longhorn / AstalaVista PR Web Site news!
Endless barrage of multiple stories that have already been hashed
around before about every tiny bit of news from Jurrassic Park
Redmond Campus One.
GO TO www.microsoft.com for further info & bypass C/NOT all
together.
How much money does Citizen Gates pay you per word anyway?
So c|net's gotten a little nicer to Microsoft now that they're mad at Google. They're still definitely no Microsoft PR firm.
Longhorn / AstalaVista PR Web Site news!
Endless barrage of multiple stories that have already been hashed
around before about every tiny bit of news from Jurrassic Park
Redmond Campus One.
GO TO www.microsoft.com for further info & bypass C/NOT all
together.
How much money does Citizen Gates pay you per word anyway?
So c|net's gotten a little nicer to Microsoft now that they're mad at Google. They're still definitely no Microsoft PR firm.
positive results. Shortening the line between the customer and
the honchos at the top would be a good start, too bad they didnt
try this sooner. Keeping Jim Allchin til Vista is a sendoff that
should happen much sooner however.
This guy doesnt know his customer, or his product; when I read
his numerous interviews in eWeek and InfoWorld, he says
nothing that indicates he is even in the software business, he
sounds mostly political, like a cheap salesman in that regard.
I guess this news is more about the way those at the top of MS
are scrambling to man the ship with a new look, doing anything
they can to make some news, otherwise Google gets all the
attention.
While MS is not in danger of disappearing soon, they have hit
their peak and now must accept that they are old news, and we
customers are tired of the sloppy products we get.
Furthermore, if good old Jimmy Jammmers Allchin is being vague in his interviews, then how is he any different from his boss, Gates? If you read Bill's interviews, he speaks like Yoda about concepts that are supposed to be profound or grand, but really are just a rehashing of the same old same old.
positive results. Shortening the line between the customer and
the honchos at the top would be a good start, too bad they didnt
try this sooner. Keeping Jim Allchin til Vista is a sendoff that
should happen much sooner however.
This guy doesnt know his customer, or his product; when I read
his numerous interviews in eWeek and InfoWorld, he says
nothing that indicates he is even in the software business, he
sounds mostly political, like a cheap salesman in that regard.
I guess this news is more about the way those at the top of MS
are scrambling to man the ship with a new look, doing anything
they can to make some news, otherwise Google gets all the
attention.
While MS is not in danger of disappearing soon, they have hit
their peak and now must accept that they are old news, and we
customers are tired of the sloppy products we get.
Furthermore, if good old Jimmy Jammmers Allchin is being vague in his interviews, then how is he any different from his boss, Gates? If you read Bill's interviews, he speaks like Yoda about concepts that are supposed to be profound or grand, but really are just a rehashing of the same old same old.
efficient years earlier!
Ha!
It is ironic that they are now going back to those old plans in order to survive in the current market.
efficient years earlier!
Ha!
It is ironic that they are now going back to those old plans in order to survive in the current market.
positive results. Shortening the line between the customer and
the honchos at the top would be a good start, too bad they didnt
try this sooner. Keeping Jim Allchin til Vista is a sendoff that
should happen much sooner however.
This guy doesnt know his customer, or his product; when I read
his numerous interviews in eWeek and InfoWorld, he says
nothing that indicates he is even in the software business, he
sounds mostly political, like a cheap salesman in that regard.
I guess this news is more about the way those at the top of MS
are scrambling to man the ship with a new look, doing anything
they can to make some news, otherwise Google gets all the
attention.
While MS is not in danger of disappearing soon, they have hit
their peak and now must accept that they are old news, and we
customers are tired of the sloppy products we get.
positive results. Shortening the line between the customer and
the honchos at the top would be a good start, too bad they didnt
try this sooner. Keeping Jim Allchin til Vista is a sendoff that
should happen much sooner however.
This guy doesnt know his customer, or his product; when I read
his numerous interviews in eWeek and InfoWorld, he says
nothing that indicates he is even in the software business, he
sounds mostly political, like a cheap salesman in that regard.
I guess this news is more about the way those at the top of MS
are scrambling to man the ship with a new look, doing anything
they can to make some news, otherwise Google gets all the
attention.
While MS is not in danger of disappearing soon, they have hit
their peak and now must accept that they are old news, and we
customers are tired of the sloppy products we get.
Balmer at the helm MS is doomed. That man is a fool.
Obviously, the company needs to rethink some of its strategies, for example investing in such expensive things that obviously cannot yield a decent ROI (buying Great Plains for example).
Maybe the weight loss program he went on a few years back zapped some of his brain power. ;)
Balmer at the helm MS is doomed. That man is a fool.
Obviously, the company needs to rethink some of its strategies, for example investing in such expensive things that obviously cannot yield a decent ROI (buying Great Plains for example).
Maybe the weight loss program he went on a few years back zapped some of his brain power. ;)
BALLMER STOPPED DANCIN' !!!
;-)
BALLMER STOPPED DANCIN' !!!
;-)
for anyone who still has to use it. Most big companies get top
heavy and decline after a number of years, it appears that
Microsoft's time has come.
- Who cares?
- by thomcarl September 21, 2005 2:24 AM PDT
- As of 2002 i've not used anything made by Microsoft. I feel sorry
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (54 Comments)for anyone who still has to use it. Most big companies get top
heavy and decline after a number of years, it appears that
Microsoft's time has come.