Microsoft's Redmond campus: lots of excitable people there today.[/caption] Microsoft’s long-rumored reorganization has begun. Rumors had persisted for weeks that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was planning a massive, once-in-a-lifetime reorganization of the company he’s been running for quite some time. According to AllThingsD, the reorganization would add “functional coherence” to Microsoft’s businesses, which are facing significant challenges from a number of highly motivated rivals. Critics have along argued that Microsoft’s sheer size has slowed its reaction time, as each of its massive divisions essentially operate as giant companies on their own; as a result, Microsoft has failed to capitalize early on major technological shifts, such as the rise of mobile devices. But now, everything’s going to apparently change in big ways. “Improving our performance has three big dimensions: focusing the whole company on a single strategy, improving our capability in all disciplines and engineering/technology areas, and working together with more collaboration and agility around our common goals,” Ballmer wrote in an enormous memo detailing the reorganization, posted on Microsoft’s Website. Microsoft will coalesce around “a single strategy as one company,” he added, “not a collection of division strategies.” The company’s product portfolio—from Windows and Xbox to enterprise applications—will be regarded and operated upon in a holistic manner. Ballmer wants this “one company” approach to extend how Microsoft handles its advertising, marketing and consumer-service operations. “This means we will organize the company by function: Engineering (including supply chain and datacenters), Marketing, Business Development and Evangelism, Advanced Strategy and Research, Finance, HR, Legal, and COO (including field, support, commercial operations and IT),” Ballmer wrote. “Each discipline will help drive our overall strategy.” In addition, Microsoft will now host four engineering “areas,” encompassing OS, Apps, Cloud, and Devices. Dynamics will be kept separate, as it apparently needs “special focus.” Many details of that consolidation have apparently been worked out, but finishing the process will still take through the end of 2013; existing teams will continue to focus on Windows 8.1, Xbox One, and other projects. Ballmer also wants to knock down the walls that have slowly grown between Microsoft’s various divisions, at least as far as engineering’s concerned. The new “engineering culture” will apparently facilitate collaboration “across the company,” with an emphasis on cross-group contributions (and maintaining secrecy, of course, for certain projects).
Steve Ballmer Reorganizing Microsoft
[caption id="attachment_10930" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Microsoft's Redmond campus: lots of excitable people there today.[/caption] Microsoft’s long-rumored reorganization has begun. Rumors had persisted for weeks that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was planning a massive, once-in-a-lifetime reorganization of the company he’s been running for quite some time. According to AllThingsD, the reorganization would add “functional coherence” to Microsoft’s businesses, which are facing significant challenges from a number of highly motivated rivals. Critics have along argued that Microsoft’s sheer size has slowed its reaction time, as each of its massive divisions essentially operate as giant companies on their own; as a result, Microsoft has failed to capitalize early on major technological shifts, such as the rise of mobile devices. But now, everything’s going to apparently change in big ways. “Improving our performance has three big dimensions: focusing the whole company on a single strategy, improving our capability in all disciplines and engineering/technology areas, and working together with more collaboration and agility around our common goals,” Ballmer wrote in an enormous memo detailing the reorganization, posted on Microsoft’s Website. Microsoft will coalesce around “a single strategy as one company,” he added, “not a collection of division strategies.” The company’s product portfolio—from Windows and Xbox to enterprise applications—will be regarded and operated upon in a holistic manner. Ballmer wants this “one company” approach to extend how Microsoft handles its advertising, marketing and consumer-service operations. “This means we will organize the company by function: Engineering (including supply chain and datacenters), Marketing, Business Development and Evangelism, Advanced Strategy and Research, Finance, HR, Legal, and COO (including field, support, commercial operations and IT),” Ballmer wrote. “Each discipline will help drive our overall strategy.” In addition, Microsoft will now host four engineering “areas,” encompassing OS, Apps, Cloud, and Devices. Dynamics will be kept separate, as it apparently needs “special focus.” Many details of that consolidation have apparently been worked out, but finishing the process will still take through the end of 2013; existing teams will continue to focus on Windows 8.1, Xbox One, and other projects. Ballmer also wants to knock down the walls that have slowly grown between Microsoft’s various divisions, at least as far as engineering’s concerned. The new “engineering culture” will apparently facilitate collaboration “across the company,” with an emphasis on cross-group contributions (and maintaining secrecy, of course, for certain projects).
Microsoft's Redmond campus: lots of excitable people there today.[/caption] Microsoft’s long-rumored reorganization has begun. Rumors had persisted for weeks that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was planning a massive, once-in-a-lifetime reorganization of the company he’s been running for quite some time. According to AllThingsD, the reorganization would add “functional coherence” to Microsoft’s businesses, which are facing significant challenges from a number of highly motivated rivals. Critics have along argued that Microsoft’s sheer size has slowed its reaction time, as each of its massive divisions essentially operate as giant companies on their own; as a result, Microsoft has failed to capitalize early on major technological shifts, such as the rise of mobile devices. But now, everything’s going to apparently change in big ways. “Improving our performance has three big dimensions: focusing the whole company on a single strategy, improving our capability in all disciplines and engineering/technology areas, and working together with more collaboration and agility around our common goals,” Ballmer wrote in an enormous memo detailing the reorganization, posted on Microsoft’s Website. Microsoft will coalesce around “a single strategy as one company,” he added, “not a collection of division strategies.” The company’s product portfolio—from Windows and Xbox to enterprise applications—will be regarded and operated upon in a holistic manner. Ballmer wants this “one company” approach to extend how Microsoft handles its advertising, marketing and consumer-service operations. “This means we will organize the company by function: Engineering (including supply chain and datacenters), Marketing, Business Development and Evangelism, Advanced Strategy and Research, Finance, HR, Legal, and COO (including field, support, commercial operations and IT),” Ballmer wrote. “Each discipline will help drive our overall strategy.” In addition, Microsoft will now host four engineering “areas,” encompassing OS, Apps, Cloud, and Devices. Dynamics will be kept separate, as it apparently needs “special focus.” Many details of that consolidation have apparently been worked out, but finishing the process will still take through the end of 2013; existing teams will continue to focus on Windows 8.1, Xbox One, and other projects. Ballmer also wants to knock down the walls that have slowly grown between Microsoft’s various divisions, at least as far as engineering’s concerned. The new “engineering culture” will apparently facilitate collaboration “across the company,” with an emphasis on cross-group contributions (and maintaining secrecy, of course, for certain projects).