Microsoft realigns around devices, services
Microsoft restructures operating units to bring more focus to devices and services, and to compete with Apple and Google.
Microsoft is revamping its structure to put an emphasis on devices and services, in what CEO Steve Ballmer calls a “far-reaching realignment” to help the company compete with the likes of Apple and Google, the Washington Post reported.
Ballmer made the announcement on the company website. The changes will create what he called “One Microsoft.”
The company will be organized around five operating groups:
- Operating Systems Engineering Group
- Devices and Studios Engineering Group
- Applications and Services Engineering Group
- Cloud and Enterprise Engineering Group
- Dynamics
The company has been challenged in recent years with the decline of PC sales and the explosion in the market of smartphones and tablets.
“To combat that slide and push back against competitors such as Apple and Google, Microsoft has launched several new initiatives, including a move into hardware with its Windows Surface tablets,” the Post reported.
“The company has also been putting more energy in promoting its software — particularly cloud-based software — as an ecosystem of products that also works with other company’s services, smartphones and tablets.”