Windows Phone Exec Shake-up
An internal memo from Ballmer to all Microsoft employees, published here, said that the head of Windows Phone Andy Lees will move to a new position at the company and will be replaced by Terry Myerson, and that these changes were effectively immediately.
Myerson is no stranger to Windows Phone and played a key role in the engineering development of Windows Phone 7 and 7.5.
But what's less clear is what Lees' new job is going to be. According to Ballmer's memo, it's this: "I have asked Andy Lees to move to a new role working for me on a time-critical opportunity focused on driving maximum impact in 2012 with Windows Phone and Windows 8. We have tremendous potential with Windows Phone and Windows 8, and this move sets us up to really deliver against that potential."
Sounds important. But the vague job description could hint at a strategy to integrate the Microsoft operating systems for use across PCs, tablets and smartphones.
Whether the executive changes really point to a new strategy or not, Ballmer is hoping to build on Windows Phone's "momentum" in 2012. (See Nokia Puts Microsoft Strategy Into Action and OS Watch: Nokia Aims to Be a US Contender Again.)
— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading Mobile
But how does this help? WP7 is the ONLY OS that will not sync directly with MS Office and MS Outlook. Seems this change only will continue the current thought process and the forcing of all data into the cloud (the better for Patriot Act access). Too bad the WP7 development team believes itself to be an extension of Zune and Xbox versus a serious business and communication group.