It came as no surprise that Steve Ballmer is “retiring” as CEO of
Microsoft. The board had no choice but to show him the door. Microsoft’s
performance has been terrible. The company has consistently missed
capitalizing on all the major technology waves since the PC OS, with the
exception of gaming. Even worse: Under Ballmer’s watch Microsoft has
lost the trust and loyalty of enterprise and business customers as well
as consumers. Putting Steven Elop in charge of Microsoft would be a big
mistake, although it’s a temptation, since the company’s current
challenge is gaining share on mobile devices. Attracting a strong female
tech CEO might garner some PR, and it might counter Ballmer’s
testosterone-driven “crush the enemy” ethos. But it’s not going to
revitalize Microsoft’s culture. There’s only one person who can
restore Microsoft and set the company back on the right path. And that’s
obvious: Bill Gates. Let’s hope that BillG is ready to come back to
rebuild the culture, win back customers’ trust, and come up with mobile
networked solutions that customers (business and consumers) actually
want to make part of their lives.
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