Major Reorg Under Way at Microsoft

Robbie Bach

Microsoft Corp. is undergoing a major reorganization, and two of the casualties are Robbie Bach and J Allard, respectively the president and chief technology officer of the Entertainment and Devices Division. Bach and Allard were essentially the driving forces of Microsoft’s foray into consumer devices, with the immensely successful Xbox and Xbox360 gaming consoles and the somewhat underwhelming Zune music player.

SeattlePI.com has a breakdown of the reorg and some of the key players, but the upshot appears to be that CEO Steve Ballmer will have a stronger hand in the division, which also includes the company’s struggling mobile platform. Allard had also been working on the company’s Courier tablet project, which was recently canceled, prompting rumors of his imminent departure. He tells TechFlash the cancelation of Courier was not the reason for his leaving. (TechFlash also posted the text of Ballmer’s memo.)

J Allard

This is an auspicous time for Microsoft, with rumors and innuendo swirling around Redmond that Ballmer hasn’t been steering the ship straight since the departure of Bill Gates. While the company has had several recent successes, including Sharepoint Server and the much-delayed release of Windows 7, it has also had more than its share of stumbles, such as the dismal Windows Vista and the can’t-get-no-respect Zune. Coupled with a mobile platform that is losing market share to Apple and Google, and a perpetual distant second-place showing in the search wars even with a quality product (Bing), the reorg today is undoubtedly a chance (maybe the last) that Ballmer has to set things aright.