Where Does Elop’s Departure Leave Microsoft?

Is Nokia’s gain Microsoft’s loss? In the near term, it would seem so, though industry analysts say that Microsoft has a strong group of talent that could step up to fill the void.

Elop resigned his position of president of Microsoft’s Business Division last week to take over as Nokia’s new CEO, replacing company veteran Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, who had come under fire in recent years as the handset giant appeared to fall behind its competitors in the fast-growing smartphone sector.

With Elop’s departure, Microsoft lost the top executive overseeing its profitable Office product, which is currently in the midst of a transition to a service-oriented cloud model. Datamation takes a look at where Microsoft may be headed in the post-Elop era.

In the wake of the resignation of Microsoft Business Division President Stephen Elop, who announced late Thursday that he’ll soon take over the CEO post at mobile phone giant Nokia, Microsoft is facing a choice with potentially far-reaching implications: Who’s going to oversee the critical Office product line?

Fortunately for the Redmond, Wash., software colossus, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has a lot of internal leadership talent to choose from, industry observers said.

Read the full story at Datamation:


What Will Microsoft Do Without Stephen Elop?