Satya Nadella? Seriously, Microsoft?

“When Steve Ballmer announced that he would be stepping down as Microsoft’s chief executive officer, that surprise event triggered five long months of speculation about who would replace him. Finally, the software giant’s board has reportedly settled on its choice: enterprise and cloud chief Satya Nadella,” Steve Tobak writes for FOXBusiness.

“The only thing surprising about that selection is, well, nothing. Nadella was the safe choice. But that doesn’t mean he was the right choice,” Tobak writes. “If Microsoft’s convoluted culture has to change – and that was the premise behind the well-received ‘One Microsoft’ restructuring led by Ballmer – then Nadella, a devout insider who has been with the company for 21 years, probably wasn’t the way to go.”

“It seems apparent that, instead of making a bold choice, a choice that would demonstrate their resolve to change the culture and reinvent the company, the board went with the safe choice, Nadella,” Tobak writes. “Now, don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against Nadella… But in my experience, when a company as complex as Microsoft professes the need for cultural change, the need to reinvent itself, a transformational leader is needed.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote last night:

It’s tough, if not impossible, to deliver the type of change Microsoft needs when you’re a lifer.

Related article:
Microsoft said to be preparing to name Satya Nadella CEO – January 30, 2014