Major organizational shake-up
imminent at Microsoft
by Paul Andrews and Jay Greene
Seattle Times technology reporters
Microsoft wants to turn the supertanker around again.
Worried it is losing steam on the Internet, Microsoft is on the
verge of one of the most sweeping organizational shake-ups in its
history.
Possibly as soon as this week, Microsoft will announce a broad
restructuring that will overhaul the software giant's operations and
put significantly more focus on the Internet. And the company is
calling in its version of the cavalry - Windows 95 and Internet
browser king Brad Silverberg - to help make the change.
The low-profile Silverberg, 44, led Microsoft's DOS and
Windows upgrades through the past decade. Early on, he also
pushed for the company to develop Internet software, including its
own browser.
After a corporate power struggle two years ago, Silverberg took
a leave of absence. Many wondered if he would ever return.
Today his legions of supporters at Microsoft are pressuring their
wiry, bearded leader to come back.
"The browser effort was a unique, exciting moment in Microsoft
history," said John Ludwig, who reported to Silverberg and now
heads one of Microsoft's Internet enterprises. "It would be fun to
try to recapture the magic."
Microsoft has offered Silverberg oversight of consumer Windows
operations and its online businesses. Silverberg declined to
discuss the details of the offer last week, saying only that he hadn't
made a decision. He is expected to do so soon.
Even if he doesn't return, the reorganization will take place,
although possibly with different wrinkles. The overhaul would rival
Microsoft's 1990 "divorce" with computer giant IBM and its
Internet mobilization in 1995 - referred to in industry circles as the
time the company turned the supertanker around.
The changes come amid a grueling antitrust trial, now in its fourth
month, in which Microsoft has endured a series of embarrassing
setbacks. The reorganization doesn't appear to be tied to the trial.
Microsoft declined to comment on the details of the changes. But
sources said Microsoft President Steve Ballmer is driving the
reorganization out of concern that the company has drifted from a
customer focus and needs to get back to delivering innovative
products faster. Insiders also say the company has to make the
Microsoft name as important on the Internet as it is on personal
computers.
Inside the company, workers also feel adrift. Some talk of a
company that lacks a companywide vision. Others suggest
Microsoft lacks the sort of rallying cry that helped drive the
company when it launched Windows 95 and made its initial push
onto the Internet.
The key change will be to reorganize its business around four
customer-focused groups - consumers, corporate customers,
home office and telecommuters, and developers (programmers).
That would be a big shift from the company's current organization,
which runs along technology lines, such as Windows, interactive
media, and programming platforms and tools.
Perhaps the biggest change, though, will hit Windows 2000, a
product the company has said would unite its consumer and
corporate businesses. Ballmer has recognized that the oft-delayed
operating system, now expected to launch in February 2000,
won't work for both segments. Instead, Microsoft will offer
separate versions of Windows 2000 for each market.
Paul Andrews' phone message number is 206-464-2360.
Jay Greene's phone message number is 206-464-3287.
Copyright © 1999 Seattle Times Company
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