Stuart Scott joined Microsoft in 2005. (Source: Microsoft Corp.)
Microsoft just shook up its corporate architecture with a high-profile firing.
Microsoft Corp. announced yesterday the shocking news that it had fired its CIO of two years, Stuart Scott. They disclosed that Scott had violated corporate policies, but would not mention details.
A Microsoft spokesperson simply stated, "We can confirm that Stuart Scott's employment with Microsoft has been terminated after an investigation for violation of company policies."
The news came as somewhat of a bombshell as Scott was behaving last week as if it were business as normal, attending the InformationWeek 500 conference, and giving a speech with his boss, Microsoft COO Kevin Turner.
Still, despite the cool exterior, Scott had been the topic of over a month of rumors, which indicated that Microsoft may have placed him on administrative leave. The recent report released by Microsoft seems to validate these rumors.
Scott had worked for over 17 years at General Electric and also served as their CIO. He left General Electric for Microsoft in 2005. He was a corporate vice president at Microsoft and began as co-CIO. Last year he assumed sole CIO responsibilities.
Scott's responsibilities as Microsoft CIO involved management of the IT team which oversees Microsoft's infrastructure, security messaging and business applications. This IT team also provided support for Microsoft product groups, corporate business groups and the global sales and marketing organization.
Microsoft has not named a replacement, but two people will be filling in for Scott: Shahla Aly, general manager of worldwide services, strategy and planning and Alain Crozier, corporate vice president and chief financial officer at Microsoft's sales, marketing and services group.
Some speculate that Scott's downfall may be partly due to the more consolidated nature of his corporate power than CIO's in the past. Scott acknowledged this in a recent interview, stating, "Prior CIOs have always run the corporate systems and infrastructure for the employees. What we've added is the direct line-of-business systems. It's all part of Microsoft learning how to be a big company but still remain innovative and agile."
The interview that this quote was taken from fueled the rumors of his impending departure.
High level executives randomly disappearing at Microsoft is not unheard of. In 2006 high-profile market executive Martin Taylor, left Microsoft suddenly after 13 years with the company. Still, Scott's departure marks the largest shakeup in recent history.
Microsoft is coming off recent successes of its victory acquiring a stake in Facebook, which it ardently defends. It also recently enjoyed its strongest quarter since 1999. Scott's departure will likely due little to dampen Microsoft's good spirits, but it may add a hint of uncertainty to the corporate atmosphere of the tech giant.
"It seems as though my state-funded math degree has failed me. Let the lashings commence." -- DailyTech Editor-in-Chief Kristopher Kubicki
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