Following 18 months of strategic overhauls and high-level leadership shifts, and several years of middling financial results, Senior Vice President Doug Burgum will vacate the top leadership spot in the Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) division. Burgum has led the MBS organization since its inception and his name has become almost synonymous with Great Plains, the business management and accounting software company he led since 1984 and sold to Microsoft in Dec. 2000. Although his departure may concern existing MBS partners and customers, the change is not likely to trigger any immediate technical or strategic shifts in the division.

A New Role

According to a Nov. 2005 announcement and interview posted on Microsoft's Web site, Burgum will assume the newly created title of Chairman of MBS. The announcement suggested that, in his new role, Burgum would serve as an advocate for Microsoft's business applications among existing and prospective partners and customers, and within Microsoft itself. Beyond evangelism for MBS, however, his responsibilities as Chairman remain largely unspecified. Burgum will continue to lead MBS while the company searches for a senior executive to assume operational responsibility of the organization. No other MBS organization changes were announced.

The leadership change follows several tumultuous years for MBS, which has fallen short of revenue predictions for the past two years, has never been profitable for Microsoft, and has undergone significant restructuring (particularly in the sales force) in the past 18 months. The announcement may trigger concern among MBS partners and customers that new leadership in MBS will precipitate further turbulence. However, Burgum's departure likely represents the culmination of the past several years' restructuring, rather than the precursor to a new round of strategic or organizational upheaval. Microsoft will likely place an executive focused on executing stated MBS plans to consolidate its enterprise resource planning products, integrate those products more effectively with other Microsoft products and recent technologies, and align MBS's sales and partner programs with mainstream Microsoft programs.

Resources

The Burgum interview and announcement of his pending departure is at www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2005/nov05/11-17Burgum.mspx.

Microsoft's most recent senior management reorganization is outlined in "Allchin's Retirement Sparks Reorganization" on page 43 of the Nov. 2005 Update.

Other recent organization changes in MBS are outlined in "Reorganization, Outsourcing at MBS" on page 27 of the July 2004 Update and "MSCRM, Navision Get New GMs" on page 25 of the Mar. 2005 Update.

The Microsoft Partner Program and its impact on MBS was outlined in "New Partner Program Readied" on page 32 of the July 2004 Update.

A discussion of MBS's product consolidation strategy appears in "Project Green Details Trickle Out" on page 23 of the Nov. 2005 Update.