Microsoft has announced that Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie is leaving the company.
“With our progress in services and the cloud now full speed ahead in all aspects of our business, Ray and I are announcing today Ray’s intention to step down from his role as chief software architect. He will remain with the company as he transitions the teams and ongoing strategic projects within his organization – bringing the great innovations and great innovators he’s assembled into the groups driving our business.
“Following the natural transition time with his teams but before he retires from Microsoft, Ray will be focusing his efforts in the broader area of entertainment where Microsoft has many ongoing investments. We have tremendous opportunities in the entertainment space overall, and I’m excited about what we can accomplish. Beyond that, Ray has no plans at this time. While he’ll continue to report to me during the transition, the CSA role was unique and I won’t refill the role after Ray’s departure…,” is what Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer stated in an internal email to employees.
Ozzie joined Microsoft when the company bought Ozzie’s Groove Networks back in April 2005. Initially, he was one of three chief technical officers and was named to his current role in 2006, at the same time the company announced Bill Gates plan to retire.
Ozzie’s departure is the latest in a string of high-level exits from Microsoft. Last month, Business Division President Stephen Elop left Microsoft to become CEO of Nokia, while Entertainment and Devices unit president Robbie Bach announced in the spring his plans to leave. (he’s still on the rolls but is expected to leave later this fall.)
It’s not clear what Ozzie will be doing after he exits Microsoft. But his blogs may provide a clue. On October 14 this year, he wrote: “…I’m back…As my old Windows Live Spaces blog was in the process of being migrated to WordPress, it occurred to me that this is opportunity to share something with you that I happened to stumble across some weeks ago when straightening out a bit of the mess that’s my home office. Inside a sealed packet I found a wonderful artifact from decades ago – a folder of collaterals from the Windows 1.0 launch event. It was possibly handed to me at that time by Pam Edstrom, whose business card was enclosed. I’ve scanned and posted this artifact at docs.com, which as of today has introduced, among other features, “browser-based PDF reading” support. Congratulations to the team! The document is great fun to read, and all-in-all it’s a tremendous reminder of how far we’ve come as an industry…”
Watch this space…
