Speculation about the most major Microsoft restructuring in five years has been building for quite a while now and even though Microsoft has made no official comment as yet, things do appear to be firming up. Citing sources close to the company, technology blog AllThingsDigital provides a rundown of expected changes here and reports that the news is expected to break this Thursday – one week before the Q4 results are due - although the reshuffle date could change.
The impetus for the change is to reorganise Microsoft around its declared services and devices strategy and to put more resources behind fewer initiatives, while eliminating overlapping functions. The changes will be significant but we can’t see them going all the way to the top i.e. Steve Ballmer is not going to shift himself out of the business or his current role. But as we’ve said before, that level of radical change might be what Microsoft needs (see Microsoft – Time for a change at the top?), as even Bill Gates acknowledged that although the company has made breakthroughs, it has not done enough in rapidly developing areas like mobile. Keep tuned and we’ll bring you our views on the new-style Microsoft when the announcement breaks.