14 DAY TRIAL // It's all about satisfaction with Microsoft. Customer satisfaction that is, an aspect in which the company's new Chief Information Officer will play a key role. Microsoft has traded one Scott for another and has announced that it has hired Tony Scott, from The Walt Disney, to serve as chief information officer (CIO) and corporate vice president. Tony Scott is the replacement of Stuart L. Scott which was ousted in November 2007.
At that time, with neither Microsoft nor Stuart L. Scott offering any details related to their divorce, speculations pointed to possible sexual foul play for the former Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer, which was terminated due to the violation of the company policies.
"More than any other company, Microsoft knows how important it is to leverage IT for strategic business advantage, and I look forward to building on this success in my new role. So few places offer the chance to expand your skills and have an impact across such a broad range of technologies - from services to unified communications to mobility. It is a great opportunity, and I am excited to work with this team to help Microsoft advance its business forward through IT," Tony Scott stated.
At Microsoft, the new Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Tony Scott will lead a workforce 4,000 strong, the company's global information technology organization. Tony Scott will be directly subordinate to Kevin Turner, Microsoft's chief operating officer.
"Our internal IT systems and operations play a critical role in the success of our business and how we deliver new technologies and advancements to our customers in the marketplace," Turner said.
Scott comes to Microsoft from The Walt Disney where he had the role of senior vice president and chief information officer. A 25-year-veteran of leading global IT operations, Scott will be at the helm of the organization responsible for Microsoft's critical technology systems that provide the infrastructure for worldwide sales, marketing and services. In addition, Scott's new organization is also responsible for the corporate side including enterprise systems and applications. Before working with Disney, Scott was the Chief Technology Officer at General Motors. Starting with the debut of February, Scott will take on his new role with the Redmond company.
"We will leverage Tony's deep experience in running global IT organizations, and his focus will be in three key areas. First, we want to run a world-class IT department, leveraging Tony's track record and deep knowledge of operational excellence to achieve the highest level of business value by utilizing IT. Second, as Microsoft's biggest user of our products and solutions, Tony and the IT team will drive our solutions and deployment throughout our enterprise and provide valuable input and feedback to our product groups. In turn, this will ultimately improve our customer satisfaction in the marketplace. Third, we will call upon Tony to connect and collaborate with CIOs around the world to regularly share best practices with our customers and partners," Turner added.