A Split In Microsoft

While Yahoo!, somehow, seems to have bought more time to keep itself safe from the Carl touch, Microsoft has been bitten by the bug. Steve Ballmer and Carl Icahn had been working hard on brining Yahoo! to its knees. But with Carl getting on Yahoo! board, the proxy war has come to an end. What future holds for Yahoo! may appear to be a bit foggy at this moment, things are a bit clearer at Microsoft end. And its gray and stormy.
After the long and exhausting failed effort to take over Yahoo!, Microsoft has decided to split its Platforms and Services Division (PSD) into two groups: Windows/Windows Live and Online Services. Both groups will report directly to strongman Steve Ballmer. But another pain point is, PSD president Kevin Johnson, who was after the Yahoo! deal is standing at the exit doors of the company.

“Kevin has built a supremely talented organisation and laid the foundation for the future success of Windows and our Online Services Business. This new structure will give us more agility and focus in two very competitive arenas,” Ballmer said. “It has been a pleasure to work with Kevin, and we wish him well in the future.”

In the Online Services Business, Microsoft will create a new senior lead position and will conduct a search that will span internal and external candidates. In the meantime, senior vice president Satya Nadella will continue to lead Microsoft’s search, MSN and ad platform engineering efforts.

So, should Yahoo! be taking a breath of relief for a while?