Here is the RTR --MSN shake up story.
nasdaq.com
Microsoft Plans Realignment To Focus On Customers
SEATTLE (Reuters) - In one of his first major moves to put a stamp on the software giant, Microsoft Corp. President Steve Ballmer is planning to reorganize the company to focus more closely on customers, a spokeswoman said Sunday.
''As usual, the company is looking at the organization to ensure that it is mapping to the most important customer opportunities,'' said the spokeswoman, Marianne Allison.
She declined to comment on details, but said an announcement could be made in the next several weeks.
The reorganization is expected to include the return of executive Brad Silverberg, who led development of the hugely successful Windows 95 operating system but has been on an extended leave of absence from the company since June 1997.
Allison said the company ''has been seeking the right opportunity'' for Silverberg.
According to a report in The Seattle Times, Microsoft would be reorganized broadly into four new divisions: consumer, enterprise, developers and knowledge workers.
The consumer division, which might be headed by Silverberg, would take responsibility for the some versions of Windows as well as Microsoft's MSN.com and other Internet-related activities.
That would be an expanded version of the job relinquished in December by Pete Higgins, who stepped down as head of the company's Interactive Media Group to take a personal leave.
The enterprise group, which could be headed by Jim Allchin, would take over development of Windows 2000, the forthcoming version of the high-end Windows NT operating system, which is expected to be launched this year, far behind schedule.
Allison cautioned that many details of the pending reorganization have yet to be hammered out.
Microsoft realigns its corporate organization every year or two, with the most recent shift announced in February 1998, when developers who work on Internet Explorer browsing technology were brought into the same group as those who work on the Windows operating system.
Since being named president in July, Ballmer has been taking a comprehensive look at the company's goals and structure. Reut14:50 02-07-99
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