What will this news do for MSFT shares tomorrow?
This should prove interesting maybe.?
news.com
Microsoft Plans to Reorganize Business Into 4 Groups (Update1)
(Updates with details from analyst and a news report in 1st
through 3rd paragraphs.)
Redmond, Washington, Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp.
plans to reorganize the No. 1 software maker into four groups and
bring back a top programming wizard, who led the development of
Windows 95 and the Internet Explorer browser, according to a
report published today and an analyst familiar with the plans.
An announcement on the reorganization, one of the most
sweeping shake-ups in Microsoft's history, could come as early as
this week, the Seattle Times reported. The Times said Brad
Silverberg, 44, a former Microsoft executive now on leave, will
be invited back to head the newly formed consumer group.
Silverberg and Microsoft officials weren't immediately available
to comment. It's not known whether Silverberg has accepted
Microsoft's offer.
The reorganization is seen as a major effort by Microsoft to
focus on the Internet and its customers. The three other customer
groups are: Corporations; home office or telecommuters; and
developers or software programmers. The decision follows a
sweeping review of company operations by President Steve Ballmer,
the No. 2 executive under Bill Gates.
''When Ballmer did his review he realized the organization
was disconnected from customers, organized around technologies
and not customers,'' said Rob Enderle, an analyst with Giga
Information Group, who is familiar with the company's
reorganization plans.
Ballmer has been running Microsoft's interactive media,
which includes the MSN network of Web sites, since November when
Pete Higgins resigned as vice president for that group.
Jim Allchin, senior vice president for personal and business
systems, would probably head the newly created enterprise group,
in charge of corporate customers and agencies, the Times said.
''This is fallout from Steve taking over from Bill, making
fixes that have been needed for some time, focusing on the
customer,'' said Enderle said.
The shakeup will be as important as those following Gates's
1995 speech outlining the company's initial push into the
Internet and the early 1990's break with International Business
Machines Corp., Enderle said.
--Laura Raun in Seattle (206) 224-3173 through the San Francisco |
