Apps push Microsoft to let Office go mobile

It might be one of Microsoft Corp.’s biggest squandered opportunities.

Tired of waiting for Office to be optimized for mobile gadgets, more younger companies are turning to cheaper, simpler and touch-friendly apps that can perform word processing and other tasks in the cloud.

Artivest Holdings Inc., a financial-services startup that sells alternative investment products, uses an app called Quip, which combines word processing and messaging, to handle all but the most-sensitive legal and financial files.

“There are no more Microsoft Word documents being circulated. If someone emails me a Word document, I’ll tell them to put it in Quip,” said David Levine, chief investment officer of the New York-based company.

“If I’m walking to and from home, or going to an appointment, I can review or edit on my iPad. Not being tied to my desk, that’s a big pro,” he said.

The speed with which apps such as Quip have been adopted is forcing Microsoft to intensify its efforts to bring the powerful but aging Office software suite to tablets and smartphones, according to people close to the company.

Microsoft already has a full iPhone and iPad version of Office ready for release, the sources said. The only question is when Chief Executive Satya Nadella, who took over in February, will pull the trigger.

Nadella wants to widen Office’s customer base but has to balance that with the flagship Windows franchise, which benefits greatly from tight integration with Office, especially on desktop computers.

“We have some pretty exciting plans,” said John Case, the top Office marketing executive, without giving details. “Certainly, interest in Office on the iPad is extreme. When they (customers) want to do real work, they are going to want to use Office.”

Investors have urged Microsoft for years to adapt Office, its most-profitable product, for mobile devices from Apple Inc. and Google Inc. rather than shackle it to Windows as PC sales decline.

Activist investment firm ValueAct Capital, whose president, Mason Morfit, sits on Microsoft’s board, has more recently voiced misgivings about Office’s continued absence from mobile devices, sources familiar with the firm said.

According to one analyst estimate, Microsoft is missing out on $2.5 billion a year in revenue by keeping Office off the iPad, which has sold almost 200 million units.

“Office is being disenfranchised on the hottest growth platforms,” Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund wrote in a note to clients. “Maybe it is time to focus on Office independent of Windows.”

News Source: www.dispatch.com

Posted by Editorial Team on 1:10 AM in Activist investment, Apps push, Chief Executive, David Levine, iPad, Mason Morfit, Microsoft, mobile gadgets, Office go mobile, Satya Nadella

Tony Bates and Tami Reller are next to go

Change is the key word for Microsoft lately as it shakes up the executive ranks all the way up to CEO. Now, two more execs are reportedly leaving the company.

According to Fox Business, Tony Bates and Tami Reller are next to leave the company. Bates is the former Skype CEO in charge of Microsoft's business development and Reller is the co-head of Microsoft's Windows unit.

Bates is expected to leave the company immediately and for unknown reasons. Eric Rudder, head of advanced strategy, will temporarily take over Bates' duties until a permanent replacement is found.

Reller, on the other hand, will stick around at Microsoft for a little longer to help out with the transition.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is due to publicly announce the changes tomorrow, but has already sent out an internal memo to Microsoft employees regarding the shake-up last Friday.

_{Steve Ballmer and Tony Bates [SOURCE: canoe.ca]}

Microsoft has seen many changes recently in the wake of a major restructuring process within the tech company. A major switch was former CEO Steve Ballmer's retirement and the appointment of Microsoft exec Satya Nadella, which occurred in late January.

In addition to Nadella's new appointment, it was confirmed that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates would be spending more time at the company once again as Founder and Technology Advisor. He stepped down as Chairman of the Board of Directors at that time.

Just a week ago, it was announced that Julie Larson-Green -- head of Microsoft's Devices and Studios Group who recently led Microsoft hardware development -- will become chief experience officer for the company’s Applications and Services Group. This means that Larson-Green will work with products like Bing, Office and Skype. 

 

_{Tami Reller [SOURCE: svit24.net]}
 

The Devices & Studios Group will be taken over by Stephen Elop, who is the former CEO of Nokia. Elop will take on this role as soon as Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia is complete (which should happen this quarter).

The Fox Business report added that Mark Penn, who was an executive vice president at Microsoft overseeing advertising and strategy, will become chief strategy officer.

The company continues with a restructuring process that was announced last year. The main goal behind the restructuring is unifying Xbox, Windows Phone and PC units, which shows that devices and services are the center focus. 

Source: Fox Business

Posted by Editorial Team on 11:30 PM in Fox Business, Microsoft, PC units, Satya Nadella, Skype CEO, Tami Reller, Tony Bates, vice president, Windows, Xbox

Microsoft’s Nadella Said to Shake Up Staff With Penn Role

Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)’s newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, in an effort to reignite growth, is shuffling management and putting former political operative Mark Penn in the new role of chief strategy officer, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Tony Bates, who was passed over for the CEO job, is leaving the company, with Eric Rudder, the head of advanced strategy, taking over his duties, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been announced. Tami Reller, the executive vice president in charge of marketing, is also leaving and being replaced by Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capossela, the people said.

The shakeup is the most extensive yet for Nadella, who was named CEO in February after a five-month search and is tasked with speeding up a turnaround at the world’s biggest software maker. He’ll be leaning on a former political strategist in Penn, who worked on Hillary Clinton’s failed 2008 presidential bid. More recently, Penn developed Microsoft’s “Don’t Get Scroogled” advertising campaign, a political-style attack on rival Google Inc.

The overhaul follows last month’s announcement that hardware group chief Julie Larson-Green will move to the applications and services unit.

Frank Shaw, a spokesman for the Redmond, Washington-based company, declined to comment. The departures of Bates and Reller were previously reported by the Re/code blog.

Microsoft shares in Frankfurt were little changed at the equivalent of $37.91 at 10:08 a.m. local time.

Mobile Trouble

Nadella, a 22-year Microsoft veteran, is the company’s third CEO after Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. He’s charged with reigniting expansion at a company that hasn’t seen sales growth exceed 6 percent since 2011. Microsoft’s investments in mobile haven’t put a dent in Google and Apple Inc.’s control of the smartphone market, while cloud applications from competitors pose an increasing threat to Microsoft’s flagship Windows business.

Bates was among the leading internal candidates for the top job, along with Nadella and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner. Bates, a former Cisco Systems Inc. executive, ran Microsoft’s Skype unit before becoming an executive vice president in July. Reller, who joined Microsoft in 2001, was also promoted to executive vice president in July and led marketing for the Windows 8 operating system.

Microsoft shares have gained 5.4 percent since Nadella’s appointment on Feb. 4, closing at $38.31 in New York last week. The stock has trailed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in three of the past four years.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dina Bass in Seattle at dbass2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Pui-Wing Tam at ptam13@bloomberg.net

News Source: www.bloomberg.com

Posted by Editorial Team on 2:56 AM in $37.9, Bill Gates, Chief Executive, Frankfurt, Microsoft’s, Mobile, MSFT, Penn Role, Satya Nadella, Shake