Microsoft Reorganizes

This seems like a great idea for MSFT. They seemed to be having all sorts of communication problems and were losing people to Google due to bureaucracy. Here is what they are doing:

One of the three new divisions, Microsoft Platform Products and Services, will include the company's Windows, server and tools, and MSN online divisions. It will be led by Kevin Johnson, formerly in charge of worldwide sales and marketing, and Jim Allchin.

The other two units are Microsoft Business division, which will include its Office products and products for small- and mid-sized businesses, and Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division, which will include its Xbox game console, other games, mobile phone and handheld devices products.

I like how they are joining the all of those items in the MSFT Platform Products and Services together since they all pretty much work in concert with one another. Now they can seriously integrate things so they work together well. Let's hope we'll see the end to those weird server side errors that you have to be an MCSE to fix.

It also seems they had a WWII German army system going before:

"There's a whole set of decisions that might have had to percolate to Bill Gates' and I because they crossed the seven ... Business groups that are now contained in these three divisions, and I think that ought to lead to crisper, faster actions on certain kinds of decisions we need to make," Ballmer said.

So there seems to be lots of decisions that Gates and Ballmer had to work on personally. Just like Hitler had to personally okay almost everything army related. So they couldn't commit the Panzers on D-day because they didn't want to wake him up.

It looks like they are switching to a more Napoleonic Army system of thinking instead. The French allowed the Marshals to maneuver on their own initiative but were answerable to the Corsican if things went badly. So maybe the Marshals of the three new departments will get to do their own things without having Gates or Ballmer around to okay everything. That seems to be the aim:

The company's reorganization will merge seven business units into three divisions. That is aimed at helping the company become more nimble and giving executives broader power to make decisions without bringing in top leaders.