Key Microsoft man quits

By Duncan Martell






SAN FRANCISCO  -


Microsoft Corp. said  the executive leading the world's largest

software maker's marketing strategy to challenge rival Google Inc. has left the

company, at a time when Microsoft struggles to solidify new sources of revenue

growth.






Microsoft did not detail why Martin Taylor left the world's biggest software
maker after the 13-year company veteran was appointed in March to lead marketing

efforts for Windows Live.






Microsoft's suite of Windows Live services, which includes e-mail, search,
mapping and social networking, aims to unite the company's various Web programs

under a unified brand and look so it can better compete against Yahoo Inc. and

Google in the fast-growing online advertising market.






The move by Taylor also comes as Microsoft, whose Windows operating system runs
an estimated 90 percent of the world's personal computers, struggles to find new

sources of growth in a software market that is rapidly evolving.






"Advertising is a key component that didn't exist before," said Tim Bajarin,
analyst at market research firm Creative Strategies. "Subscriptions are a key

component that didn't exist before."






Taylor's departure follows the decision announced last week by Microsoft's
co-founder and the world's richest man Bill Gates that over the next two years

he would ease out of a day-to-day role at the company to focus more on

philanthropy.






Gates, who also stepped down last week as chief software architect for
Microsoft, passed the technical mantle to Ray Ozzie. Ozzie joined the software

maker last year and is at the heart of its push to maintain its dominance by

transforming software into services that generate an ongoing stream of revenue

instead of just a one-time sale.






"The fact is that with Ray Ozzie as chief software architect he probably wants
to have his own team of people around him," Bajarin said. "In a lot of cases,

people from the past don't fit in."






Martin, who joined the Redmond, Washington-based company in 1993, had previously
worked directly with Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer on strategic

projects and long-term planning.






"We have made the difficult decision to part ways with Martin, but we don't
comment on personnel matters," the company said. "We appreciate Martin's

contributions at Microsoft over the past 13 years."






He also spent much of his career in sales and previously served as general
manager of the company's Caribbean unit based in Puerto Rico and also worked in

New York.






Microsoft stock, whose stratospheric rise during the 1990s inspired a generation
of tech entrepreneurs, has fallen some 13 percent over the past year as

investors questioned its ability to find new growth markets.






Nasdaq shares of Microsoft rose 1 cent to close at $22.56 on Tuesday.





(Additional reporting by Michael Kahn in San Francisco)