Microsoft is undergoing a major revamp to closer unite its various services, such as Windows, Office 365, Windows Phone, Xbox, Bing and Azure, as a ‘family’ of complimentary products marketed to consumers. The new “One Microsoft” strategy and restructure aims to ensure the way its different products and services are developed and marketed are tied […]
Microsoft is undergoing a major revamp to closer unite its various services, such as Windows, Office 365, Windows Phone, Xbox, Bing and Azure, as a ‘family’ of complimentary products marketed to consumers.
The new “One Microsoft” strategy and restructure aims to ensure the way its different products and services are developed and marketed are tied to their use in consumers everyday lives.
The move will see Microsoft marketing now now reflect “one company” meaning adverts are likely to be more brand than product-led.
In a memo issued this week, CEO Steve Ballmer spelled out the “One Microsoft” vision in a memo to staff), which he says will focus on creating a “family” of devices and services for individuals and businesses that “empower people around the globe at home, at work and on the go, for the activities they value most”.
He added: “This is a big undertaking. It touches nearly every piece of what we do and how we work. It changes our org[anisational] structure, the way we collaborate, how we allocate resources, how we best empower our engineers and how we market.”
Under the restructure, the company will be organised by function rather than product.
The new structure will consist of: marketing, business development and evangelism, advanced strategy and research, finance, HR, legal, various engineering groups and COO – which includes field, support, commercial operations and IT.
The marketing group will be led by current Windows CMO Tami Reller; Mark Penn – the former Clinton electioneer and currently Microsoft’s president for strategic and special projects – will be charged with Microsoft’s new centralised advertising and media functions; while president of the Skype division Tony Bates will lead the business development and evangelism division.
Ballmer adds: “In the critical choice today of digital ecosystems, Microsoft has an unmatched advantage in work and productivity experiences, and has a unique ability to drive unified services for everything from tasks and documents to entertainment, games and communications. I am convinced that by deploying our smart-cloud assets across a range of devices, we can make Windows devices once again the devices to own. Other companies provide strong experiences, but in their own way they are each fragmented and limited. Microsoft is best positioned to take advantage of the power of one, and bring it to our over 1 billion users.”
Microsoft’s new vision is similar in both name and approach to Sony’s, which announced its “One Sony” strategy last year, which united the firm around its three core divisions.
