Microsoft restructures its organization

Microsoft has restructured the seven Divisions the company created in 2002 into three new Divisions “designed to align [its] Business Groups in a way that will enhance decision-making and speed of execution.”

The move is seen as a response to the kind of problems that led to a three-year delay on Windows Vista and a dilution of its original spec.

In a typically pungent report, The Register proclaims : “In five years since Ballmer took over the CEO’s job from Gates, Microsoft has moved from anarchy to a Kafkaesque bureaucracy. The culture of “MaMaM”, or meetings about meetings about meetings, is well known in the industry, but reached a wider audience with defection of Microsoft’s China Labs chief Kai Fu Lee to Google, which led to suit and countersuit. Microsoft’s inefficiencies even amused the Chinese Communist Party, Lee alleged.”

The official release says :

REDMOND, Wash. — Sept. 20, 2005 — In order to drive greater agility in the execution of its software and services strategy, Microsoft Corp. today announced a realignment of the company into three newly formed divisions, each of which will be led by its own president. The Microsoft Platform Products & Services Division will be led by Kevin Johnson and Jim Allchin as co-presidents; Jeff Raikes has been named president of the Microsoft Business Division; and Robbie Bach has been named as president of Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division. In addition, the company said Ray Ozzie will expand his role as chief technical officer by assuming responsibility for helping drive its software-based services strategy and execution across all three divisions.

The company also announced that Allchin plans to retire at the end of calendar year 2006 following the commercial availability of Windows Vista™, the next-generation Microsoft® Windows® operating system.

“These changes are designed to align our Business Groups in a way that will enhance decision-making and speed of execution, as well as help us continue to deliver the types of products and services our customers want most,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft. “It’s great to have extremely successful broad leaders with strong track records in driving growth and innovation leading these three very important areas for the company. We see a new era of opportunity to provide greater value to our customers by weaving both software and services into forms that suit their needs. By bringing together the software experience and the service experience, we will better address the changing needs of our customers’ digital lifestyles and the new world of work.”