The "return" of Bill Gates to Microsoft

Bill Gates began his Microsoft adventure in 1975 with Paul Allen creating a version of BASIC for the Altair 8800. From that first seed to what Microsoft is today, a lot of time has passed and many things have changed, but remains: Gates is still there.

" In the year 2000 the founder&39;s retirement began, leaving his position as CEO to Steve Ballmer. In 2006 he announced that he would stop being so focused on Microsoft, and in 2008 he stepped down from Chief Software Architect to just Chairman of the Board. Until today."

Gates will be an advisor to the new CEO Satya Nadella, and will have a more important role within the company, also advising teams to improve and advance their respective products. From this perspective, we are facing a turning point in the withdrawal of Gates. But he on the other hand he has less real power by stepping down as chairman of the board. The fact that he is more closely linked to Microsoft does not imply that he has more power.

In order to answer this question properly, it is necessary to explore Bill Gates' roles at Microsoft before and after this change.

The functions of Bill Gates, before and after

Gates moves down the hierarchy in exchange for more presence at Microsoft.

What did Bill Gates do as chairman of the board of directors - chairman in English -? Roughly speaking, from supervisorIn addition to being in charge of organizing and coordinating board meetings, he evaluated the CEO's results. He did not have executive power, although it seems that he would have some influence and power to decide Microsoft's strategy in view of some reports.

From now on, Gates will be much more involved with the company, having a third of his time for meetings with product groups. His vision will be reflected much more in Microsoft's strategy, but it is likely that he will have less decision-making power than before: the last word will always be Nadella's.

Is the return of Gates convenient for Microsoft?

"

The question is not easy. On the one hand, one would say that the experience of someone who has been linked to Microsoft and the world of technology for almost 40 years hasa lot of valueThe case of Gates is more Special still given his track record of good decisions.If not, tell the group of 43 people who were in charge of continuing their Weeks to Think>"

The fact that Gates himself was one of those who supported the new CEO, and that Nadella also asked him to be his adviser, makes us think that there won't be many conflicts between the two either.

On the other hand, right now Microsoft doesn't need continuity with what it was before. Ballmer has succeeded in defining the new path for the devices and services company that is now Redmond, but there's still room for it: Microsoft can't carry on business as usual.

And the fact is that the challenges they face now are not the same as several years ago. There is the mobile, the world of tablets, the competition with Google and Apple in many aspects in which Microsoft was alone before... It is no longer in a dominant position in the consumer market. It is true that the business section is stronger than ever, but we are not looking for Microsoft to become another IBM.

Nadella keeps the good of Gates without retaining the evolution that Microsoft needs.

Also, Microsoft Isn't Just About Software Anymore The Surface was just a preview of what was to come with the purchase of Nokia. The strategy cannot be the same as before, and those who were previously their allies, the manufacturers, also become competitors in a more than curious love-hate relationship.

Nonetheless, on the whole I think it's a good idea to have Bill Gates as an adviser. The new mind is Nadella, and the one who is going to be in charge of renewing and redirecting Microsoft-hopefully he does it as well as he has done with Azure-. Gates' advice can come in handy to finish putting the movements on track, but in his position he won't be able to retain much of the company's evolution.

Nadella's proposition is quite clever in this regard: he gets Gates's pros andgets rid of his cons. It remains to be seen if he really finds it useful in the future to have the founder of Microsoft by his side.

"

And you, what do you think about the return>"