Microsoft Server and Tools Head Muglia To Step Down

snydeq writes "Longtime Microsoft executive Bob Muglia, president of the company's server and tools business, will step down from his position later this year, according to a Steve Ballmer memo issued Monday to company employees. Muglia has been with Microsoft for 23 years, leading development efforts in Microsoft Office, Windows NT and online services businesses. More recently, Muglia shepherded Microsoft's entry into cloud computing, guiding the rollout of the company's Azure platform. Muglia's departure follows that of Ray Ozzie, whose exit was made all the more notable by a memo warning Microsoft to start thinking beyond the PC."

Comments

Re:Cloud

[0racle]

Like most new markets MS enters, 'the Cloud' was firmly established by the time MS got there.

Ballmer job security program

[joe_bruin]

And thus, with the exit of half a dozen of the highest level Microsoft department heads, there is nobody at MS that can take over Ballmer's seat as CEO if the board of directors decides to fire him. He's made it much harder to fire him now.

Re:Ballmer job security program

[OglinTatas]

Outside appointment... Is Carly Fiorina still available?

Re:Ballmer job security program

[gbjbaanb]

cue comments regarding my goldfish being a better CEO than Ballmer.... no, what this means is that the other executives in their playroom don't have anyone with "I'm next" on their hat, so that (like my goldfish really) means they won't be able to decide who to choose as a replacement, and so Ballmer stays.

Of course, anyone who likes Android, Apple or well, anything that isn't Microsoft, should be overjoyed at this news. MS is a dead company, but like the proverbial dinosaur the neural impulses havn't travelled all the way from the tail to the brain yet - MS, being the dinosaur that it is, doesn't yet realise its day is over.

Mind you, one thing that comes to mind is the quality of Bob Muglia. The man that once said to the Seattle Times, with a straight face, "We're going to increase quality in Windows Vista by firing all our quality assurance people!"

Also, it appears this has been brewing for a few months. From minimsft blog:
Somewhat trustworthy source: All BobMu's org's 10s will not see another review cycle. Terminated in groups of under 500 each month to avoid Warn. Can anyone confirm?

Friday, October 22, 2010 7:54:00 PM

Chances are the next CEO will be Kevin Turner, a bean counter like none other (apparently). Just the kind of guy to 'turn round' Microsoft's fortunes by basically reducing the number of beans to count. Or, as someone said on that msft blog: KT CEO - that will be a nice touch indeed - walmarting of Microsoft-- how appropriate

Re:Slashdot Title

[Anonymous Coward]

Running it through Babel Fish's "Slashdot to English" translation, I get this:

Slashdot: "Microsoft Server and Tools Head Muglia To Step Down"

English: "Bob Muglia, Head of Microsoft's Server and Tools Division, Is Going To Step Down"

Then, if you run it through a "Corporate-Speak" filter, you get this:

Plain English: "Steve Ballmer Fired Bob Muglia"

Re:Last Comment...

[Rary]

...if you RTFA this one was clearly fired by Ballmer outright. Quite fascinating read that memo.

Agreed. Here are the really interesting portions of the memo:

Bob Muglia and I have been talking about the overall business and what is needed to accelerate our growth. In this context, I have decided that now is the time to put new leadership in place for STB.

Translation: I sat down with Bob to discuss the direction STB should be going in, and Bob didn't agree with my vision, so I replaced him.

In conjunction with this leadership change, Bob has decided to leave Microsoft this summer.

Translation: Bob told me where to shove my vision, and will probably go off to start his own company that kicks our cloudy asses, because let's face it, I'm no visionary leader.