Microsoft is tweaking the organisational structure
around its Microsoft Business Solutions group to give the unit a
more prominent position in Microsoft's hierarchy.
Group leader Doug Burgum will now report directly to Microsoft
chief executive officer Steve Ballmer.
Microsoft also expanded the responsibilities of Orlando Ayala,
who last year vacated his position as the company's top sales and
marketing executive to take charge of Microsoft's small and
medium-sized business sales, marketing and partnering efforts.
Ayala will continue as senior vice president of Microsoft's
Small and Midmarket Solutions group, but will also serve as chief
operating officer of the Microsoft Business Solutions group.
Both Burgum and Ayala previously reported to Jeff Raikes,
Microsoft's group vice president of productivity and business
services. With the new shuffle, Ayala's group will be part of
Microsoft Business Solutions, and Ayala will report to Burgum.
The change is directly unlikely to affect customers and
partners, but it signifies the importance Microsoft places on its
growing enterprise applications business.
Microsoft's desktop applications are ubiquitous in the business
world, but the company did not traditionally compete in the market
for the expensive, complex enterprise resource planning
and customer relationship management systems used for back-office
functions.
Microsoft cannonballed into the space several years ago,
spending $1.1bn to buy ERP maker Great Plains Software and another
$1.3bn on Danish software company Navision. It then combined the
two companies to form the foundation of its Microsoft Business
Solutions group.
Microsoft inherited a large customer base from Navision and
Great Plains, but the Business Solutions group's sales has not been
up to expectations in recent quarters. Executives blamed execution
problems on the group's work with its channel partners, and said a
turnaround is expected soon.
The company still has high hopes for the business applications
market: Ballmer forecast that the Microsoft Business Solutions
group will be doing $10bn in annual sales within a decade.
Stacy Cowley writes for IDG News
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