CEO Headhunter says Elop is the obvious choice for next Microsoft CEO

Will he, won’t he? Initially Elop seemed to be the clear candidate as soon as the Nokia deal was set with MS and he was said to be coming back into the fold (some Nokia fans felt this was the case as soon as Elop stepped into Nokia CEO shoes). Later, some people ‘in the know’ said Elop was less likely.

Now in comes Adam Charlson, VP and managing director for executive recruiting firm, DHR International. Over the course of his career he has recruited ‘senior leaders’ to

 …Adobe Systems, Convergys, Experian, FICO, Google, HP, Infor Global Solutions, Informatica, JDA Software, Microsoft, PayPal, Progress Software, Salesforce.com, SAP, Sitel, and TeleTech, to name a few…

He spills that initially, Kevin Turner, MS COO was put in place to succeed Ballmer. If Ballmer’s direction is flawed, Turner is said to be the one to turn things around. But what if it pays off? Mulally apparently isn’t qualified to be a tech CEO.

These are apparently the obvious criteria Gates and Ballmer are looking for:

• someone who understands Microsoft’s culture.
• someone who understands the tech world, particularly enterprise software (Microsoft’s bread and butter).
• someone with the experience of running a publicly traded company
• someone who understands mobile, the strategy where Microsoft has staked its future by building its own PCs and buying Nokia’s device business for $7 billion.

The only one Charlson feels fills these is Stephen Elop. He might be the guy to transform MS to a successful devices and services company. He knows the importance of mobile and has experience with Nokia Lumia in creating something new to something with the beginnings of potential success. MS has the deep pockets to make sure they can keep on trying.

Source: Business Insider

Via: WMPU

Category: Nokia