News

Outsider to Fill Microsoft COO Post

Microsoft named a new chief operating officer this week. Kevin Turner comes to Redmond after 19 years with Wal-Mart where he most recently was president and CEO of Sam’s Club.

Turner, who is 40, will provide strategic and operational leadership of Microsoft’s global sales, marketing and service organization as well as the company’s fulfillment and IT operations, according to Microsoft.

Turner simultaneously served as executive vice president of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., where he was responsible for all operations for Sam’s Clubs in the United States. The retail giant’s warehouse club brings in more than $37 billion in annual sales and has 46 million members.

Previously, Turner was executive vice president and CIO for Wal-Mart, where he oversaw all information systems for the company.

At least one analyst gives the hiring a mixed reception. “[Turner’s hiring] portends changes ahead . . . . apparently, someone is thinking Microsoft needs some outside sales and marketing know how,” Joe Wilcox operating system analyst at JupiterResearch says on his Weblog, Microsoft Monitor. “Any help would do, and it's hard to argue that Wal-Mart is unsuccessful.”

Still Wilcox, and other observers wonder how long he will last in the hot seat, serving the needs of the company’s demanding executive team, including chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer.

This is not the first time in recent years that Microsoft has picked an outsider for the COO’s post – minding the company’s day-to-day business is an all important job. And part of it is working with the rest of the executive management team. Rick Belluzzo, who came to Redmond after being CEO of Silicon Graphics, replaced Bob Herbold who retired in 2001. However, something about Belluzzo’s style didn’t mesh with Microsoft senior management and he left after little more than a year on the job to head data storage company Quantum. The post has been empty since 2002.

Turner starts Sept. 8. To eliminate job overlap, Kevin Johnson, group vice president of worldwide sales, marketing and services at Microsoft, will be named to a different job within the next month, the company said.

No word on whether Turner will bring what he has described as Wal-Mart’s “divine discount” mentality to Microsoft’s sales and marketing operations.

About the Author

Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.

Featured

  • Microsoft Appoints Althoff as New CEO for Commercial Business

    Microsoft CEO and chairman Satya Nadella on Wednesday announced the promotion of Judson Althoff to CEO of the company's commercial business, presenting the move as a response to the dramatic industrywide shifts caused by AI.

  • Broadcom Revamps VMware Partner Program Again

    Broadcom recently announced a significant update regarding its VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) program, coinciding with the release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0, a key component in Broadcom’s private cloud strategy.

  • Closeup of the new Copilot keyboard key

    Microsoft Updates Copilot To Add Context-Sensitive Agents to Teams, SharePoint

    Microsoft has rolled out a new public preview for collaborative "always on" agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot, bringing enhanced, context-aware tools into Teams channels, meetings, SharePoint sites, Planner workstreams and Viva Engage communities.

  • Windows 365 Cloud Apps Now Available for Public Preview

    Microsoft announced this week that Windows 365 Cloud Apps are now available for public preview. This aims to allow IT administrators to stream individual Windows applications from the cloud, removing the need to assign Cloud PCs to every user.